Simple Roast Chicken

Photo: Beverley Ann D'Cruz

Ingredients

1 large chicken (about 1.2kg)

1/2 stick of butter, softened

5 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

Rind of two lemons

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

salt and pepper

1/2 lemon

4 Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced thickly into rounds

2 sweet potatoes, sliced into rounds

pinch of chilli flakes

olive oil

Preparation

Wash the chicken inside and out and pat dry. Make sure the skin is nice and dry so the skin gets crispy. Season well with salt and pepper inside, out and under the skin.

Mix the butter with the garlic, chilli and lemon rind. Season a bit with salt and pepper. Stuff the flavoured butter under the skin over the breast, legs and back. Stuff the lemon half into the cavity.

Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Toss the two kinds of potatoes in the bottom the the baking pan with the chilli, salt and pepper to taste and a generous helping of olive oil. Place a rack over the vegetables. Position the chicken breast side up on the rack.

Bake for the first 15 minutes at 400F. Then drop the temperature and continue to cook for about an hour at 300F.

Halfway through cooking turn the chicken on its breast. Spoon over some of the juices.

Later, to check for doneness, pierce the thickest part of the chicken (the thigh). If the juices run clear the chicken is ready, if not continue cooking.

Serve chicken on a platter on the bed of roasted potatoes.