Flat Roasted Chicken

I published this recipe as a celebration of my 300th blog post on my family blog.  This is a quick and easy way of preparing a tasty roast chicken in a hurry.  If you don't have the fresh herbs, dried will do fine.  I think this is one of Donna Hays recipes from The Instant Cook book.  She has some very simple recipes that are very easy to cook.  I just love a good simple chicken dish with fresh herbs, I have a few up my sleeve.  I hope you enjoy this one.

Flat roasted chicken

1 whole free range chicken

1 lemon sliced

handful of thyme sprigs

handful of oregano sprigs, you can also pull the leaves

off the stalk of oregano and thyme if you prefer it that way.

8 garlic cloves

olive oil

salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 200°C (390°F)

Prepare your roasting tray, lay half of the garlic cloves unpeeled, half the lemon slices and half of the thyme and oregano into the bottom of the tray.

Cut the chicken either down the breast bone or the back bone and open up the one cut side. You'll need a big sharp knife or kitchen scissors for this. Turn the open side down into the tray on top of herbs and garlic, press on top to flatten the chicken. Rub olive oil all over, season with salt and pepper and place remaining thyme and oregano over top, with the rest of the garlic cloves tucked in under the wings and in crevises. Lay the remaining lemon slices over top of the herbs and chicken.

Now depending on how quick you want to eat your chicken you can put it straight into the oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown, or you can turn down the oven to 180°C (350°F) and cover the tray with aluminium foil and cook it a little slower for an 1 hr 10 mins or so (this keeps it lovely and moist) and then take the foil off and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so until it browns up a little. I've tried it both ways and have loved it either way.

If you want quick roast vegies too, pre-boil some potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots, drain then sprinkle with olive oil and salt then put in the oven on another tray for about 30 mins. Keep and eye on the chicken and vegies as I have a slow oven and yours may be quicker, you just don't want the chicken to dry out.

Retain the juices from the pan and some of the cooked garlic, squeeze the garlic out of the shell and mix up a little gravy, add some flour, chicken stock and water and bring slowly to the boil. It is a lovely, lemony chickeny, garlicy flavour, delicious poured over the chicken and any roast vegies.

Sorry I forgot to take photo's of the finished product but I was so eager to dig in and eat it, so you'll have to make do with partial shots of the roasted chicken.