Gulp.
I've only cooked for the family once. But I have hosted multiple dinner parties for my friends. My bad. Well, better late than never, right?
It was National Day, the perfect occasion for a family get together. Big bro had just had a minor op and couldn't drive so Sis and I decided to "journey to the northeast" - sheesh Punggol is far! The thought of seeing my cute nieces made up for the long ride there - Analisa and Adelia are super duper cute.
Serves 5
1 chicken (try to get bigger ones, 1.6kg and above)
2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon herbs de provence
0.5 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
1 tablespoon honey
1. Place butter, honey, herbes de Provence, and salt in small bowl; mash with fork until blended to thick granular paste. Starting at neck end of each chicken, loosen skin under breasts and thighs. Rub herb-seasoned butter on chicken under skin and on outside. Put in ziplock bag and chill least 2 hours. Let chickens stand at room temperature about 30 minutes before cooking.
2. Here I did a 2-phased roasting:
(i) Preheat oven to 200°C. For crispier skin, place chicken on a wire rack on top of baking tray (to collect juices). After 30min, take out the chicken and baste it with olive oil/juices.
(ii) Return chicken to the wire rack in oven and bake at 180°C, until the meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 70-75°C [For my oven, this took another 50min]
Cover chicken with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
TADA~! Operation roast chicken was a huge success - my family loved it (well, at least they said they did - that's what family are for, right?). I thought mixing honey with the herbs was rather genius of me (self-praise) and it gave the chicken that slight tinge of savory sweetness.
