Recipe: Oven Roasted Chicken

I have decided to to post recipes on this space from now on. While it is not really related to parenting, cooking sure comes as part of the responsibilities of being a SAHM. I reckon it will be a useful future reference for myself and the daughters should they be interested in pottering around the kitchen in time to come. And of course, those of you who pop by here are welcome to try out the recipes too!

Just a note though, if you are looking for professional cooking techniques, this is probably not for you. At the end of the day, I am really just a kitchen enthusiast (an aspiring kitchen goddess, not actually one!) who usually use cheats such as store-bought mix and sauces in my recipes. You probably can relate me more to noobcook. Lastly, I welcome all feedback and suggestions as to how to improve on the recipes too! Hope to hear from you! :)

So, the inaugural recipe post here shall be on oven roasted chicken. This is my second try and I have made some modifications from the original recipe that I copied online as the first try did not turn out too well (too salty and overcooked!).

Last night's roasted chicken was a hit. The meat was tender and succulent, the skin was flavourful with a tint of lime. The Husband pronounced it better than Kenny Rogers and even the helper was seemingly impressed. I was chuffed. Hee!


Ingredients (With two sides, it serves 3):

• 1 whole chicken, 1.3kg (Cut off head and feet)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice (I used Australian Tahitian lime that are often seen in NTUC these days)
• 1/4 cup (or 4 tablespoons) of light soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of canola oil
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil (optional - I added it on a whim cos I love the fragrant smell of it!)
• 1 tablespoon of ketchup
• 1 tablespoon of chilli sauce
• 2 teaspoons of chopped garlic
• 3/4 teaspoon of coarse black pepper (or pepper mill grind black pepper for even fresher pepper taste!)
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary leaves
• 1 tablespoon of yellow mustard sauce

Method:
After cleaning the chicken and pat dry, rub salt all over chicken surface and insides. FYI, since it isn't a stuffed chicken, I did away with the tying. Put it in a large dish, add all the marinate ingredients in. Be sure that the ingredients are well-mixed and the chicken is well-covered (including the insides) by the marinate.

Chicken standing in the fridge.

Let it stand in the fridge for 8-24 hours. For last night, due to time constraint, I only let it stand in the fridge for 3 hours. However, I made it a point to flip the chicken after 1.5 hours so that both sides get to be partially submerged in the marinate.

Pre-heat the oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Here is a few points to note. Mine is a conventional oven that do not have a rotisserie. Of course, having a rotisserie will ensure the chicken be evenly cooked. In this case, I overcame it by flipping the chicken later on (will touch on it later). Also, while the recipe calls for 170 degrees Celsius, note that all conventional ovens do differ in actual temperature. So it is important to suss out your oven and be able to adjust accordingly. In my case, I pre-heated the oven at 170 degrees Celsius and had it adjusted downwards later on.

Basting using metal spoon before putting into oven.

Take the chicken out from the fridge. Baste the chicken once before putting it into the oven. For those who are unfamiliar with the term basting, it basically means to glaze the chicken with the marinate. In my case, I do not have a brush, so I use a metal spoon to pour marinate over the chicken, a few spoonful at a time. Basting is crucial in ensuring that your chicken turns out flavorful. For ease of basting throughout baking, I put an additional tray in the oven below the chicken to collect the marinate drips for later use. 

Into the oven it goes!

For a 1.2kg-1.3kg chicken, bake it for 75 to 90 minutes. Check the chicken after 10-15 minutes. A sign that the temperature is too high is the blackening of the tips of the chicken wings. If so, adjust temperature downwards (5-10 degrees Celsius at a time). Baste chicken at every 15 minutes interval, collect drips for reuse.

Blackening of the tips of the wings means temperature is too high

At 45th-50th minute, flip the chicken onto the other side. To gentle as you lift the chicken up to prevent tearing of the skin.

Flipped to the other side.

At 75th minute, start checking if the chicken is cooked. As I do not have a meat thermometer, I use the skewer test. Poke it into the thickest flesh part of the chicken. If it comes out clean, it is cooked. It is uncooked if the skewer comes out pinkish (tint of blood).

Skewer comes out clean!

Once cooked, switch off oven. The chicken is ready to be served! :)

Yummilicious chicken ready to be served!

For dinner last night, I served up the chicken with mashed potato and buttery corn kernels on the side. I tried making brown gravy from the drips but unfortunately, the gravy tasted funny due to the amount of lime juice in the recipe. But then again, The Husband felt that the chicken was flavorful and juicy enough on its own. "No need gravy!", he said. I kinda agree. Usually, I have to have chilli sauce to go with my chickens. But for last night, I could do without it.:)