Roast Chicken & Hasselback Potatoes

How to get roast chicken really juicy and an exciting take on the average baked potato.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

Compound butter:
100g butter (room temperature)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
zest of 1 lemon
herbs (chive, parsley, rosemary, basil)
1 tsp paprika powder
1,5 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Stuffing:
200g bread cubes
3 rashes bacon
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 leek
2cm ginger
zest of 1 lemon
thyme
salt, pepper

Sides:
1kg potatoes
bread crumbs
lemon zest
parsley
500g carrots
1 fennel
olive oil
salt, pepper

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

  2. Start with the compound butter. Mix all ingredients together till well combined and set aside in the fridge.

  3. Use the back of a spoon to separate the chicken meat from the skin. Be careful not to tear the skin.

  4. Next slide butter in between meat and skin (this can also be done the night before).

  5. Set chicken aside in the fridge.

  6. Next is the stuffing. Dice bacon and finely chop onion, garlic, leek and ginger.

  7. Sauté everything in a pan.

  8. Add thyme, lemon zest and juice while still warm. Set aside to cool.

  9. Add mixture to bread crumbs and set aside till crumbs have soaked up all the juices and stick together.

  10. Fill chicken with stuffing and place into preheated oven.

  11. Next prepare your sides. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Then wash potatoes, carrots and fennel.

  12. Slice into the potatoes, but stop just short of cutting all the way through. Make the slices as thin or think as you like.

  13. Oil potatoes and season with salt and pepper.

  14. Peel carrots and cut fennel into wedges.

  15. Place carrots and fennel on a parchment paper lined oven tray and season with olive oil, salt and pepper.

  16. Place potatoes on the same tray and bake vegetables in the oven for about 30-45 minutes.

  17. For the crumb combine fine toasted bread crumbs, lemon zest, parsley, salt and pepper.

  18. Add crumb on top of potatoes and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

  19. Once chicken is cooked remove from oven, loosely cover with aluminum foil and rest for 20 minutes before carving.

  20. Enjoy with friends and family!