My Perfect Roast Chicken

This is an easy roast a chicken recipe. All you need is loads of herbs, especially rosemary leaves. I simply love the smell of rosemary. Btw, they were from my garden! I have been roasting this chicken for many years. The recipes was adapted from Jamie Oliver cookbook. Today, I have omitted the lemon and use more rosemary leaves instead.

My Perfect Roast Chicken

Ingredients:

1 2 1/2-3lb free-range Chicken

salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3 small handfuls of fresh herbs (basil, parsley, marjoram), finely chopped

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1 Lemon, halved

4 Bay Leaves, torn

2 sprigs of Fresh Rosemary

Method

Preheat the oven and a roasting tray to 425 degree F.

Wash the chicken inside and out and pat it dry as possible with paper towels. Rub the chicken cavity with salt, then, being very careful, grab the skin at the tip of the chicken breast, making sure that it doesn't rip, and pull it up gently. With your other hand gently separate the skin from the meat of the breast.

Sprinkle a little salt down the gaps that you have made, push in the chopped herbs. Drizzle in a little olive oil. Stuff the chicken cavity with lemon, bay leaves and rosemary.

Pull the skin of the breast forward so none of the actual flesh is exposed, tuck the little winglets under, and tie up as firm as possible with kitchen twine. Slash across each thigh about 3 or 4 times and rub in some of the leftover herbs, which allows the heat to penetrate directly into the thigh meat, enabling it to cook faster.

With your hand, rub a little olive oil into the skin of the chicken and season very generously with salt and pepper. Remove the hot tray from the oven and add a little oil. Put the chicken, breast side up and roast for about 1 hour or until the skin becomes really crispy.