Mmm a lovely roast chicken. I love roast chicken. I make one two or three times a month. It usually gets eaten in one sitting and then I make a stock with it, if I don’t forget that the carcass is in the fridge. But if there is any left there is little better than a chicken and mayonnaise sandwich the next day.
1.5 kg chicken
1 lemon
olive oil
2 tsp dried tarragon
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
Method
Place the chicken into a roasting tin. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over the inside and outside of the chicken and place the squeezed lemon shells inside the cavity of the chicken with a bay leaf. Generously spread olive oil over the skin of the chicken and sprinkle with the dried tarragon. Season all over with salt and pepper. Place the chicken into a preheated oven at 200°c (400°f, gas mark 6) and cook for twenty minutes and then turn the oven down to 180°c (350°f, gas mark 4) and cook for a further 1 hour to 1½ hours until the chicken is cooked. You can test by placing a knife point or skewer into the thickest part of the knife and as long as the juice runs clear the chicken is cooked. Leave to rest for fifteen minutes before carving.
