MIKEY BELL

You know what’s amazing?

A chicken roasted simply with nothing but some butter and herbs.

I detailed my love for such a chicken in my second ebook Kitchen Instinct, and it takes something particularly special for me to point you in another direction. So having said that, this chicken is something special.

I have two templates for a whole roast chicken: one is literally just smothering it in butter and roasting, as mentioned in the book, and the other is popping it into a bag and marinating it.

Whether this be a yogurt brine (as found here) or a vibrant and interestingly spiked marinade like the one featured in this recipe, it will always be one of these two methods I turn to when a chicken is the answer no matter what question was asked.

This marinade is something I am particular proud of.

Not only does it tenderise the chicken, promising buttery, pull-apart meat but it also fortifies the bird with a round, treacly huskiness that is both mouth-wateringly invasive but also gentle and comforting.

I am usually forthcoming with substitutions and suggestions with my recipes but I’m going to be a bastard with this one and say that every ingredient is mandatory. Sure the chicken would be fabulous without one of two of the ingredients, a chicken always is, but if you want the experience I had, I cannot offer alternatives outside of those mentioned.

I found the miso compulsory for the deep, honeyed saltiness, the citrus offering was essential for the tenderisation and the combination of both offered spiky sweetness (a lemon would be fine but… meh…) and the garlic, soy, and ginger provide a flavour-wall triangulation that just cannot be replicated.

Sorry to other ingredients.

While I did have a better flavour result when I left the bag in the fridge to marinate overnight, I must admit, the first time I made this, I actually put the chicken and it’s marinade in the ziplock bag and then drove the 45-minute drive to my mother’s house which I felt was enough time for the ingredients to do their job.

I served this chicken alongside a potato salad (recipe coming soon… stay alert…) and a simple salad of peppery rocket leaves, thinly shaved fennel and radishes, and a few spoonful’s of my House Dressing.

Serves 4 – 6

1 x 1.5kg chicken

1 lime

2 oranges

1 tbs vegetable oil

4 tsp soft white miso

1 tbs soy sauce

2 cloves garlic

Thumb sized piece of ginger – peeled

1 onion

1. Put the chicken in a large, sealable plastic bag.
2. Zest and juice the lime into the bag, and then zest both oranges in too.
3. Cut only one of the oranges in half, squeezing in the juice (mind the pips), but keep the second orange, and the empty husks of the zested and juiced orange and lime handy as we’ll need them later.
4. Add the vegetable oil, miso, and soy sauce to the bag and then grate in the garlic and ginger.
5. Close the bag and using your hands, coax the marinade around the chicken, squidging it around to make sure it’s all covered.
6. Leave to marinade – either 45 minutes to an hour on the kitchen countertop or overnight in the fridge.
7. If marinating overnight, bring the chicken out of the fridge an hour or so before you want to cook and preheat the oven to 220C.
8. Slice the remaining whole orange as thinly as you can, but don’t lose your mind over how thin, and lay the slices flat on a shallow roasting tray.
9. Peel and thinly slice the onion and add them amongst the oranges, sprinkling them with a little salt.
10. Take the chicken out of the bag and lay flat on top of the oranges and onion, pouring over any marinade left in the bag. Take the zested and juiced lime and orange that you used for the marinade, and put them inside the chicken.
11. Crack a little black pepper over the chicken and then cover the tray with foil. Slip in the hot oven and turn the temperature down immediately to 200 °C and leave to cook for an hour.
12. Once the hour is up, take the chicken out of the oven and remove the foil. Turn the oven to 220 °C and put the chicken back in, allowing to cook for a further 15 minutes. It will be seared in spots with pockets of charred skin, but don’t worry… this is meant to happen, and will be all the better for it.
13. Pull the chicken out of the oven and let it rest on the countertop, covered with the foil again for about 15 minutes.
14. Serve the chicken cut into the pieces however you see fit (I’m a thigh girl myself) and don’t forget to pour the treacly pan juices over the chicken as you serve.