Roast Chicken With Muscat Grapes And Lemon Potatoes ©

6 Persons 

 

Oven temperature  250.c for first half hour, then lower to 200.C.

 

 Ingredients

1 Farm reared chicken

Enough potatoes to fill roasting tin cut into quarters

3 medium onions

4 cloves

Juice of three lemons and peel for cavity

Sea Salt, freshly ground black pepper

1 cup olive oil

a few knobs of butter

A few sprigs of rosemary and thyme and oregano

2 large bunches of Muscat grapes halved and seeded

Fresh rosemary for garnishing

 

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 250. C, turn down to 200.C once the oil starts to sizzle.

2. In Greece we wash the chicken under a running tap and leave it to drain. Check there is nothing inside, ( some chickens are sold with a bag of giblets inside and check for any feathers left on. Pat dry with kitchen paper.

3. Place in roasting tin and put inside cavity, 1 whole onion, pierced with cloves and half the lemon peel, having reserved the juice and truss. (Use trussing needle, or alternatively tie together your chicken into a neat shape with kitchen string.

4. Pour over Chicken, lemon juice and a generous amount of olive oil. Sprinkle generously with sea salt and black pepper, and place knobs of butter on the breast.

5. Peel and surround the chicken with potatoes, which you have previously sprinkled with salt pepper and olive oil, 1 lemon juice and the rest of the onions, cut into wedges.

6. Tuck the rosemary sprigs and thyme under the wings and some in the cavity.

7. Distribute the muscat grapes, de-seeded all around the chicken. ( To do this, either cut the grapes in half and remove seeds, or as we did in Cookery School, use a new hair-pin to remove the seeds from the stalk end.)

8. Place in pre-heated oven, 250.C. and cook for approximately 1. 1/2 hrs or until the juices run clear, when you pierce the thigh, with a sharp knife. Once the breast browns, turn the chicken over, or cover lightly with tin foil.

9. If the roasting tin becomes dry during cooking, add 1/2 a cup of water.

10. Carve into portions and arrange on serving dish.

11. Decorate with fresh rosemary.

12. Remove potatoes and grapes with a slotted spoon and serve around chicken, or separately.

Serve juices in a gravy boat.

N.B. Muscat grapes are paramount, as they give the distinctive flavor!! If you only have seedless grapes, they will give a sweetness, but the muscat flavor will be missing.

*Giblets : Are the Liver, Heart, Gizzard and Neck of a chicken.

 

Halve grapes and de-seed, or using a new hair pin, remove seeds from stalk end.

Place chickens in roasting tray, here I have doubled up the recipe. Place onion and lemon peel in cavity,

pour lemon juice over chickens and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt / pepper, oregano and

 de-seeded grapes.

Cook’s tip : You can tell the chickens are fresh, because where the butcher trimmed the wing tips, the bones

are bright red. If not so fresh they will be dark read/brown.

Ready to serve……

Lemon potatoes and muscat grapes.

Serve with courgettes and beans in a vinaigrette dressing. Add dressing at last minute or vegetables lose

their bright green color.

Final result.

Cut chicken up into portions and arrange on serving dish, decorate with fresh rosemary and grapes.