By Elisha Denburg
Posted January 7th, 2007
Here is a recipe for a nice and easy roast chicken I discovered while making it just the other day.
Buy a 3-4 lb. whole chicken at St. Andrew’s Poultry or European Meats in Kensington Market. Thank the butcher and be sure to pay for your chicken before you leave the store.
When you get home you can make the chicken dance on your counter as you move its stubby little legs about in a degrading and hilarious fashion.
Crush equal amounts of fennel, cumin and coriander seeds with a mortar and pestle, or an electric spice grinder, or use pre-ground spices (it tastes better if you grind them fresh).
Add a few healthy shakes of Hungarian paprika, a good amount of coarse salt and about 20 turns on your fresh black pepper grinder. This spice mixture should be enough to easily coat the entire chicken. If it’s not, crush some more.
Rub a thin coating of olive oil around and inside the chicken and then do the same with all the spice mixture (get some under the skin if you can).
Put it in the fridge to marinate for an hour or two, or if you’re in a hurry, just stick it straight in the oven, which should be at 400ºF.
Roast for about 1.5 hours on the middle rack of the oven, uncovered, preferably in a glass Pyrex roasting dish that is only slightly bigger than the chicken itself. It’s done when you pierce the thigh with a fork and the juices run clear (if you see pink, you’re not yet in the pink). You may want to cover the top of the bird with tin foil for the last half-hour if it looks like it’s getting a bit too brown. Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes outside the oven and then cut into the succulent deliciousness.
The great thing about this recipe is a really crispy and flavourful skin with a juicy and tender meaty inside. Serves four normal people or one person on a dare in first-year of university. Great for vegetarians.
