Jamie’s Whole-roasted Chicken with Homemade Barbecue Sauce

The star of this recipe is the barbecue sauce that Jamie quickly puts together. I just copied him using some of my own measurements. Just the sauce is so awesome that it got my taste buds going as it filled my hands and the home with the most fantastic smells.

The idea of using fresh, gutsy, woody herbs and spices and aromatic ingredients are a great olfactory turn on for me.

Ingredients for Jamie’s Whole-roasted Chicken with Homemade Barbecue Sauce are:

1 whole chicken, skin on, without giblets (about 1.5 kg)

With a pair of kitchen shears, remove the backbone of the chicken and “open (the bird) down like a book”. Score the chicken on its legs, thighs and breasts.

For the dry spice mix:
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
10-12 black peppercorns
4-5 cloves
2 teaspoons salt

In a mortal and pestle, bash all the dry spices till coarse and keep.
For the sauce:
3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
4-5 fresh bay
1 pod of garlic
2-3 red chilies
Half cup Balsamic vinegar (I did not have it at home and used regular vinegar)
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
Juice of one orange
Zest of one orange
Three-fourth cup tomato ketchup (Jamie used organic)
2 tablespoons canola oil

On a chopping board, put together the rosemary, thyme, garlic cloves, red chilies and orange zest. Chop everything in together and into each other!

In a baking dish, toss in the chopped fresh herbs, etc., the dry ground spices, fresh bay, tomato ketchup, vinegar, orange juice, and smoked paprika.
 
Mix all the ingredients well. Lay the chicken on the sauce and massage the sauce into the chicken. Make sure you cover all the nooks and corners. Jamie does not marinade the chicken, I however kept my bird in the barbecue sauce for an hour. If you have more time, I suggest marinating for 5-6 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Start with the chicken face down in the baking sheet. Drizzle a little oil on the chicken and toss it in the oven for one hour 30 minutes. Turn the chicken once mid-way of cooking.

Its not possible for us to do an outdoor barbecue in this weather. But on a clear, summer day, I am going to do what Jamie did! Barbecue the bird on an outdoor grill with this heavenly sauce.
This chicken is one of the most “simple, honest and bloody good” things I have eaten in a long, long time.

P.S. If you have not seen this TED talk by Jamie, please do.

Nigella’s Party Chicken

Believe me when I say that this post will make a lot of men happy. When my husband bought me Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities yesterday, I wasn't sure if he was buying me a present or succumbing to his own needs with this voluptuous collection of recipes to get through the holidays.

Turn to page 96 of the cookbook and you will see an embarrassingly easy recipe of Party Cornish Hens,  I chose it for today’s lunch. But with a plump whole chicken. I have retained Nigella Lawson’s ingredients, except for the Cornish hens, but changed the measurements to suit my chicken.

Ingredients for Nigella’s Party Chicken are:

1 whole chicken (about 1.5 kg)
One-fourth cup olive oil (She also suggests the chile oil option)
One teaspoon ground cinnamon
One teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon sugar
1 head garlic, cloves separated, keep unpeeled
1 lime, halved and cut into wedges
Salt

Preheat oven to 375°F. Make a dry rub with the sugar, cinnamon, paprika and salt. Rub the whole chicken with it, getting the insides coated well.

Sit the chicken snugly in a baking tray. Pour the olive oil over the chicken. Tuck the limes (you can use lemons too) and the cloves of garlic around and in between the bird.

Cook the chicken for one hour and 15 minutes, till the juices run clear. I start with the face down first and turn each side, giving about 15 minutes to all the four sides. I end with the breast-side up.
Serve the carved chicken with the charred pieces of lime and garlic cloves. I did some quick potato wedges too.

Nigella suggests some couscous salad too. Here are a few couscous salads I have done in the past. This one with fresh parsley, or this one with baby arugula, shrimps, etc. Or try this Moroccan-inspired couscous salad, which looks rather festive too.

Thank you, Goddess of Easy Extravagance. I am all set to make my man happy with your time saver recipes this December.

Oven-Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

There is nothing more fun than the times someone else cooks for you. This time it was my obedient oven.

I usually make oven-roasted chicken when all my other dinner ideas run dry. Its healthy and wholesome and doesn't need much supervision either.

I will first list out the ingredients for my chicken roast and then the steps.

Ingredients for Oven-Roasted Chicken and Vegetables are:

1 whole chicken, skin on, without giblets (about 1.5 kg)
Unsalted butter
Half teaspoon dried rosemary
Half teaspoon dried oregano
Black pepper powder
Salt

1 medium red onion, cut into quarters
Handful of green beans, halved
Baby potatoes, skin on and halved
2-3 carrots, diced
Cloves of garlic

You can even use mushrooms, cauliflowers and seasonal root vegetables.

Truss your chicken. We don’t want Miss Chicken spreading her wings and legs while she is being roasted. That’s very unbecoming of ladies!

Mix the butter, dried herbs, pepper and salt. The idea here is to get under the skin of Miss Chicken. Take little portions of the rub, with your fingers, find edges, nooks and corners under the skin of the chicken and gently rub the butter mixture on. This will keep the chicken moist.

Once the insides are nicely stuffed, rub the same mixture all over the chicken from the outside.

Make a bed of vegetables on your baking dish and place Miss Chicken on top!

Pre-heat the oven to 425° F. I start with my chicken chest down, back up when I am roasting. Once the oven has fired up a bit, I reduce the temperature to 350!

I keep turning the sides after every 15 minutes. The idea is to get the breast side up when I finish. Its as if Miss Chicken is experimenting with different sleeping positions!

It takes about an hour and change to finish roasting the chicken. Poke a fork in the chicken to see if the juices run clear, that’s the sign of a cooked chicken. The melted butter and juices from the chicken will add a lot of flavor to the bed of vegetables.

Let the chicken stand for about 10 minutes before you carve and serve.

I served my oven-roasted chicken with the juicy vegetables and slices of fresh bread.