Adam Liaw’s easy roast chicken with butter, garlic and thyme
Butterflying a chicken when roasting is a no-brainer. It cooks faster, is juicier and the skin browns more evenly.
Ingredients
1 whole chicken (about 1.6kg), butterflied (see tip)
salt and black pepper, to season
2 tbsp vegetable oil
80g butter
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
12 sprigs thyme
baguette, to serve
lemon wedges, to serve
Method
Step 1
Heat your oven to 200C fan-forced (220C conventional).
Step 2
Season the chicken well with salt and pepper.
Step 3
Place a large, heavy frying pan over medium heat and add the oil. Fry the whole chicken skin-side down for about 5 minutes, pressing it to brown the skin.
Step 4
Turn the chicken skin side up and transfer the pan to the oven. Roast for 45 minutes, then finish under a grill if the skin needs further browning.
Step 5
Allow the chicken to rest for 15 minutes before carving into 8 pieces on the bone (halve each breast and separate the drumsticks from the thighs). Transfer to a serving plate.
Step 6
Place the pan the chicken was roasted in over medium heat and add the butter. When the butter turns light brown, add the garlic and thyme. When the garlic turns a light golden brown, remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter over the chicken.
Step 7
Serve with torn pieces of baguette and lemon wedges.
Adam’s tip: To butterfly a chicken, use kitchen scissors to cut down each side of the backbone. Remove it, then press the chicken down from the breast to flatten it.
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Adam Liaw is a cookbook author and food writer, co-host of Good Food Kitchen and former MasterChef winner.
