Traditional Roast Chicken for Christmas

With Christmas only a few months away, it is almost time to start thinking about some ideas... why not considering traditional roast chicken for Christmas?

It is a delicious food item for the Christmas table and can be eaten warm for a Winter Christmas or cold for the summer Christmas in South-Africa.

Traditional roast chicken for Christmas definitely falls into one of my favourites. As a personal lover of chicken dishes, any form of chicken is more than welcome in our home.

It can be cut into thin slices and be beautifully placed onto a platter and decorated on your festive table. If there are any left overs, just add mayonnaise and you have a nice chicken mayo sandwich for the next day, with almost no effort!

For this delicious roast chicken you must use the lovely fresh herbs as stated in the recipe. If you live in the Paarl area, try out St Omer Nursery, for wholesale herbs. The herbs are of exceptional quality, you will just love the golden lemon thyme

While still working at Augusta Kleinbosch Guest Farm, we had a lovely system over the festive season regarding our shifts. The one year you were working on Christmas day, but be off on New Year, and the following year you will be off on Christmas and working on New Year. It really worked well for us. I made this delicious traditional roast chicken for Christmas - me and Iwan's 1 st. Christmas together. I just came across the note how my hubbie enjoyed the meal. Great memories!

Remember the cooking time is 20 minutes per 450 g of chicken.

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Serves: 6 Prep time: 20 Minutes Cook time: 90 Minutes Ready in: 110 Minutes

Nutrition: Calories 165 Carbs: 0g Protein: 31g Fat: 3.6g

Ingredients:

1 Free range chicken, weighing 2.25 kg

55 g butter

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon thyme, chopped

1 lemon, cut into ¼ pieces

½ cup white wine

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 220° Celsius. Make sure the chicken is clean, wipe it inside and outside with kitchen paper.Place the chicken in a roasting pan.

In a separate bowl, soften the butter with a fork, mix in the chopped thyme and season well with salt and pepper.Butter the chicken all over with the herb butter, inside and out, and place the lemon pieces inside the body of the chicken. Pour the wine over the chicken.

Roast the chicken in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 190° Celsius. Roast the chicken for a further 1¼ hours, basting it frequently.

Cover the chicken with foil if the skin becomes too much.If the roasting juices are starting to dry up, add more water or wine.

Test if the chicken is cooked by piercing the thickest part of the leg with a sharp knife.The juices must run clear. Remove from the oven and transfer the chicken to a warm serving plate.Cover it loosely with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving.It will give the chicken time to set more and be a bit easier to carve once more firm.

Place the rest of the roasting chicken liquid in a sauce pan and heat.Season with salt and pepper and pour over the chicken.Garnish with the golden lemon sprigs .

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