It’s hard to imagine a Christmas dinner without the classic golden roast chicken taking pride of place at the table. Served with lashings of gravy, you’ll leave your guests impressed.
But if you find roasting an entire chicken intimidating – and most people do – here’s a foolproof recipe to guide you every step of the way.
In this second of four HALAL recipes from the new series “Tim Cooks: Christmas Edition”, chef Timothy Sebastian of Hungry Bacon shares his secrets for the perfect roast chicken, brined for 48 hours prior to roasting.
So take a deep breath, get your cooking utensils ready and start roasting that chicken.
Ingredients to brine the chicken
- 2 litres water
- 100g rock salt
- 130g castor sugar
- 2kg ice
- 1 whole chicken (approximately 2kg)
Method:
- Place water, rock salt and castor sugar in a stock pot and bring to a boil.
- Once boiled, remove from the heat and add in the ice to cool.
- Next, remove the wishbone from the chicken breast. Wash the chicken and drain well.
- Place the chicken in a deep container and cover with the cooled brine. Ensure the chicken is completely submerged in the brine and place in the chiller for 48 hours, mixing the brine every 12 hours. Again, ensure that the chicken is submerged in the brine at all times.
- After 48 hours, remove the chicken from the brine, give it a quick rinse and drain well. Keep the chicken chilled or frozen until needed. Discard the brine.
- Shelf life: chilled (three days) and frozen (six months).
Tips:
- The ratio of the meat to the brine must not exceed 75% of the weight of the brine. Brine also works well with other types of white meat such as turkey.
- The brine can be flavoured with anything – rosemary, sage, cinnamon, fennel, pepper, and garlic. Just add the ingredients when boiling the brine to bring out its flavours. Do not add acidic ingredients such as lemon, ginger or vinegars.
Ingredients for roast chicken
- 1 whole brined chicken
- 6 pinches fine salt
- 6 pinches crushed black pepper
- 5g thyme
- 5g rosemary
- 20g garlic slices
- 100g carrots
- 100g onions
- 100g celery
- 100g leeks
- 1 whole garlic, cut in half
Method:
- Season the cavity of the chicken with two pinches of fine salt and two pinches of crushed black pepper.
- Then, stuff the cavity with thyme, rosemary and garlic slices.
- Next, truss the chicken using butcher string to keep the bird well-secured while roasting.
- Place the carrots, onions, celery, leeks and halved garlic cloves on a shallow roasting tray. Place a piece of parchment paper over the vegetables.
- Glaze the chicken with corn oil and season with four pinches of fine salt and four pinches of crushed black pepper on all sides. Place the chicken breast side up on the vegetables.
- Place the tray of vegetables and chicken in a preheated oven at 200°C for approximately 45 minutes to an hour.
- Turn the chicken halfway through the cooking process. The internal temperature of the bird at the thickest part of the breast should read between 60°C and 65°C.
- Alternatively, use a skewer at the thickest part of the breast to check the doneness and temperature.
- Once the chicken is fully roasted, remove it from the oven. Do not cut the chicken immediately. Allow it to rest for 30 to 40 minutes before cutting and serving.
Ingredients for roux
- 100g unsalted butter
- 100g flour
Method
- In a large stock pot, heat the butter until melted, then sift in the flour.
- Stir to combine and cook at a low heat for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Transfer to a clean container and keep chilled.
- Shelf life: six months (chilled).
Tip: Cooked roux should smell like apple pie crust.
Ingredients for gravy
- 50g tomato paste
- 500g water
- 50g roux
- 50g cooking cream
- Salt to taste
- Chicken powder to taste
Method:
- Transfer the vegetables, drippings and liquids from the chicken into a stock pot. Turn up the heat and add in the tomato paste.
- Cook out the tomato paste. Deglaze the roasting pan as well.
- Add in water and roux and whisk until the gravy thickens.
- Next, add in cooking cream and season to taste.
- Finally, strain the gravy into a gravy jug or a sauce bowl for serving. Bon appetit!
‘Tim Cooks’ is sponsored by ChefHub, KitchenPlan, Hotelware Concept, and Visionary Solutions.
Don’t miss Chef Tim’s recipe for roasted pumpkin soup here. Check back in tomorrow for his recipes for stuffing, mashed potatoes and coleslaw.
To enjoy Chef Tim’s food in person, head on over to:
Hungry Bacon [NON-HALAL]
33, Jalan SS21/56b, Damansara Utama
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Contact: 012-355 0857
This article was written by Sheela Vijayan @ FMT Lifestyle.