Lemon Roast Chicken And Potatoes

Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 4 -5 large potatoes (leave the skins on, the flavour is fabulous)
• 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
• 2 lemons, juice of (save the squeezed lemon halves)
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano (i used thyme) or 1 tablespoon dried thyme, crumbled (i used thyme)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (3 lb) roasting chickens, about 3 pounds
• 2 onions, peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 garlic cloves, with skins left on
• 1/2 cup wine

Recipe

• 1 pre-heat the oven to 180*c/350*f.
• 2 halve the potatoes lengthwise and then cut them into three or four wedges, so that they look like chips. i used charlotte fingerling potatoes and they were perfect, cut into quarters.
• 3 throw these into a shallow roaster along with the onion wedges and the chicken.
• 4 mix together the mustard, lemon juice, oregano (or thyme) and olive oil to make a marinade.
• 5 pour over the chicken, potatoes and onions. add the bay leaves and garlic.
• 6 season with salt and pepper (remembering the inside of the chicken as well as the outside)
• 7 rub the marinade in all over the surface of the chicken and shuffling the potatoes and onions around so that they are well coated.
• 8 put the reserved lemon halves inside the chicken.
• 9 gently pour a cup of warm water into the pan, being careful not to wash any of the marinade off of the chicken or potatoes.
• 10 roast for one hour. at this point the chicken should be starting to brown.
• 11 pour the wine over the top and turn the potatoes and onions.
• 12 roast for another hour, turning the chicken when it is well browned on top. check that the potatoes are still in a little liquid, you don’t want them to go dry. if they seem a bit dry add a little more hot water.
• 13 when it is done the chicken will be golden brown and juicy and cooked through and the potatoes will be meltingly tender, with a few crisp edges. there should be a little sauce left in the roaster to serve spooned over the chicken and potatoes, but if there isn’t just add a bit of hot water to the dish and scrape up the tasty bits from the bottom to make more sauce.
• 14 serve to a very lucky family that will be scrambling for more! if this doesn’t soon become your favourite way to roast chicken i’ll be a monkey’s uncle!