Fruit Thyme

Tarragon and Lemon Roast Chicken (The TLC).
 
By Trish - one of our wonderful customers. 

Ingredients
 
1.9kg whole chicken (best quality you can afford).
5 sprigs of fresh Tarragon (only Fruit Thyme’s will do!)
50 grams softened butter
30 ml olive oil
Sea Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
2 lemons (from Fruit Thyme). Zest the outside of one lemon and retain – cut the lemons in half
4 peeled garlic cloves - halved (from Fruit Thyme)
1 brown onion  - halved (from Fruit Thyme)
½ Cup tap water
 
 
Method
 
Clean and dry the fresh chicken inside and out ensuring the cavity is clear, clean and dry.
 
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius /425 farenheight.
 
Add a generous amount of salt and pepper to the cavity
 
Add two stalks of fresh Tarragon to the cavity
 
Add garlic cloves (cut in half) to the cavity
 
Add soft butter to a bowl. Pull leaves off the fresh Tarragon stems and chop the leaves coarsely. Mix leaves with butter forming a herb butter. Season the butter with salt and pepper and mix in the lemon zest.
 
With your fingers, carefully loosen the skin over the chicken breast and massage the Tarragon butter down under the skin on top of the meat. Apply the butter as far across the chicken as you can without tearing the skin.
 
If there is any remaining butter massage it all over the outside of the chicken.
 
Paint the chicken all over with olive oil (including underneath) ensuring it is coated for browning.
 
Salt and pepper the outside of the chicken generously.
 
Place the chicken breast side up in a greased baking dish, ideally on a wire rack. Place two halves of the lemon in the bottom of the tray with two halves of the brown onion and 1 garlic clove. Pour in 1/2 cup of water. Place chicken in the pre-heated oven for 15 min then reduce to 200 degrees Celsius for 45 min.
 
Remove chicken from the oven. Pierce skin between the thigh and breast with a knife to see if juices run clear. If juices are clear place the chicken in a large bowl to rest for 10 min (or longer) cover the bowl tightly with cling film. Wonderful juices will accumulate underneath for serving….hmmm it’s Thyme!
 
Remove cling film, carve chicken into portions, reserve liquid from the bowl as gravy juices for the meat.

The side dish is the Potato, Tomato and Onion Bake (recipe can be found in our recipe section)