MAGGIE BEER’S PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN
“IT WAS THE BAROSSA THAT REALLY SHOWED ME WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO LIVE WITH THE SEASONS – HOW TO LIVE AS A FARMER.”
✦ 2kg free-range chicken
✦ 1 lemon
✦ 1/ cup (80ml) extra-virgin olive oil
3
✦ sea salt, to taste
✦ 100ml verjuice
✦ handful thyme sprigs
HAZELNUT & HERB STUFFING
✦ 40g traditionally smoked belly
bacon, rind removed
✦ 2 chicken livers
✦ ¼ cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil
✦ 2 brown onions, finely chopped
✦ small handful fresh thyme leaves
✦ small handful fresh rosemary leaves
✦ 1 cup (90g) firmly packed
fresh breadcrumbs
✦ ¼ cup (50g) pitted bottled morello
cherries
✦ ¼ cup (40g) hazelnuts, roasted,
skinned, chopped
✦ 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
SERVES 4 1
Take the chicken out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking. Preheat oven to 200°C fan-forced.
2 MAKE THE STUFFING Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the bacon and cook, tossing occasionally, 1 min. Transfer to a plate and roughly chop when cooled. Cook chicken livers in the same frying pan 30-45 secs each side until lightly browned. Transfer livers to a plate to rest 5 mins. Discard any sinew and cut into small chunks.
3 Wipe out the pan and pour in the oil. Cook the onion over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 10 mins until golden. Add the herbs and cook 1 min. Tip the mixture into a bowl. Add the breadcrumbs, cherries, hazelnuts and garlic and mix well. Gently stir in the chopped liver and bacon. Add some extra oil, if necessary, to bind the mixture, then set aside to cool.
4 Squeeze a generous amount of lemon juice into the chicken cavity, then fill with cooled stuffing. Rub half the oil and salt over the chicken. Place a wire rack in a shallow roasting tin. Fold the wing tips under the chicken and put it on the rack, breast-side up. Loosely cover breast with foil. Roast 30 mins.
5 Remove the foil, brush the chicken breast with the remaining oil and drizzle with 2 tbsp of the verjuice. Add a little water to the pan to prevent burning. Reduce oven to 180°C. Roast the chicken 30 mins until the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thigh joint. 6 Remove the wire rack and turn the chicken breast-side down. Drizzle with remaining verjuice. Loosely cover with foil. Set aside 20 mins. Carve and serve with roast vegies.