Fresh thyme/coriander and whole grained mustard Roast Chicken

Fresh herb and whole grain mustard roasted chicken. One of the quickest and simplest dinners to prepare. And it's pretty yummy to boot too. The versatility of roast chicken as a main dish is amazing as it goes well with most side accompaniments - salads, vegies, root fibres, rice, almost anything in fact and still tastes great.

There are several variations of roast chicken which I love to prepare. This time around, it was a herb/mustard prep with spinach, red cherry tomatoes and potatoes as sides, all of which was readily available in my refrigerator.  My hubs only had to pick up the uncooked, whole bird from the nearest supermarket only 5 minutes away from home.

From the time he got home with the bird, it took less than an hour and a half before the chook was good to eat - 10 mins prepping the uncooked bird, 50 mins roasting time, 5-10 mins to get it table-ready plus 10 mins admin time in between this and that. 

Ingredients for Roast Chicken: (serves 4 assuming each person has a quarter of the chicken)

1 fresh, whole chicken (about 1.8 kg)

A fistful of fresh herbs (I used fresh thyme and coriander leaves this time around)

5 pips of garlic, finely chopped

1 and 1/2 tbsp whole grain mustard

2 medium sized onions, cut in half

1-2 tbsp sea-salt for rubbing onto the chicken and cavity of chicken

Some oil for brushing

Methodology:

1.  Clean and dry the bird.
2.  Rub a tbsp of seasalt all over the external skin of the chicken, be sure to cover the thighs and the wings as well. An additional half teaspoon of seasalt goes towards rubbing the insides/cavity of the chicken. Set aside while preparing the herbs and seasoning.

3. Spoon a heaped tbsp of wholegrain mustard into a bowl. Add a tspn of finely minced/chopped garlic plus a fistful of herbs (in this case, it's fresh thyme and fresh coriander sprigs)

 4. Finely chop up the fresh herbs and mix well into the mustard/garlic mixture. I just used a pair of kitchen scissors to snip the herbs.

5. Pre-heat your oven at 200 degrees celsius.

6. Hold up the skin at the apex at the bottom of the chicken breast (that bit of exposed meat right above the cavity of the chicken in the pix). With your other hand, carefully insert your fingers between the skin and the breast meat and gently separate the skin from the meat, making sure that the skin doesn't rip. 

(Note : Photo was taken after I had stuffed the chicken. Was a bit cumbersome to maneuver the camera while working with soiled hands)    

7. Stuff the gap between the breast and skin with the minced herb/garlic and whole grain mustard mixture.

8. Place the halved onions and leftover thyme and coriander leave stems into the cavity of the chicken. Tie up the chicken.

9. Rub leftover herb mixture all over the chicken.

8. Place the chicken breast side down in a roasting dish on top of some potatoes (peeled and quartered/cut into manageable but chunky pieces). Pour 2 tbsp of water into the roasting dish.

10. Pop prepped chicken into the pre-heated oven. Activate fan mode as it circulates the heat for for more even cooking.

11. Remove chicken from the oven after about 25 minutes or when the back-side of the chicken and potatoes are golden brown (shown in the picture)

12. Place a plate under a wire tray and then arrange the half roasted chicken (breast side up) and potatoes (unbrowned side up) over it. (The plate is positioned to  catch the chicken drippings on the transfer of the chicken).

13. Brush the breast side of the chicken and the potatoes with some oil 

14.  Place the entire wire tray with the oiled half roasted chicken and potatoes back onto the roasting dish. Note that this time the chicken is suspended above the roasting dish (which has collected quite a bit of chicken drippings/juices by this time).

15. Add a 2 tbsp of water to the roasting dish. Return the chicken back into the oven for a further 20 minutes.

16.  When chicken is done, remove the chicken from the oven. Cover with foil while the chicken is left to sit . This keeps the  chicken from drying out.

17.  Place the spinach and cherry tomatoes into the roasting dish with the pan juices.

18. Return the roasting dish with the spinach and cherry tomatoes into the oven for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. 

(Note : Asparagus and beans are great to use too - quick to cook this way) 

19. Pour the remaining pan juices in the roasting dish into a small saucepan. 

20. Place saucepan over the stove and let it simmer for a minute. Thicken with either cream or flour. 

21. If using flour, mix a heaped teaspoon of flour into 2 tbsp of water first before adding into the sauce pan of chicken drippings/juices. Heat up for about 1-2 minutes until gravy thickens.

 22. Cut and remove strings. Carve chicken into quarters. 

23. Place a chicken quarter onto a serving plate, arrange the vegetables around it and spoon some gravy/thickened pan drippings over it .

Dinner's ready to be served!