Recipe Review – Roast Chicken with Flavoured Butter

 Today’s recipe review is from “Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook.” This roast chicken recipe is absolutely divine, and when you pull it out of the oven the site of the melted butter will make you feel so guilty with pleasure before you even take your first bite.

The butter recipe I chose was Jamie’s sage and onion butter. And oh man, was it ever good! I love the idea of infusing oil or butter with herbs, amplifying the quality ten-fold. When I was creating this dish with my husband, we layered the bottom of the pan with various vegetables and onions. We also stuffed some vegetables into the cavity of the chicken. Now, before we did this I got my husband to thoroughly inspect the inside of the chicken to ensure there were no “remainders,” if you know what I mean? The thought of reaching my hand into the chicken and pulling out an unexpected “guest” is quite mortifying to me.

Next, we took our herbed butter, that we prepared ahead of time, and massaged it all over the chicken. Additionally, we stuffed some butter into the cavity, knowing it would help make the flesh extra juicy and moist. I can honestly say we were extremely excited to eat this chicken!

Taste Test

Okay. The chicken is now out of the oven and is fully cooked. It is just swimming in the melted butter. Your heart could stop just by looking at all the cholesterol and fat floating in your roasting pan. But no matter, you know it will be so succulent and so moist. You will want to ensure you let the chicken rest for at least 5-10 minutes. The reason for this is because if you cut into a hot chicken immediately after it is out of the oven, all of the juices will evaporate once they have been exposed to the air. This will cause the chicken to dry out and you will be so disappointed that tears will fill your eyes. Trust me! Let the chicken rest! Same goes for any meat.



Alright. It has been 10 minutes. You are ready to cut into this glorious bird. You slice out the first piece. As you look down, you see the juices spilling out of the perfectly cooked meat. Your mouth begins to spill out its own juices, anticipating a magical experience in that first bite! The aromas that fill your kitchen are of the nuttiness detected from browned butter, accompanied by herbaceous and peppery scents from the added ingredients. Let me tell you my foodie friends, this isn’t your Grandma’s roast chicken. This is beyond that, this is the symphony, the masterpiece, the blockbuster and the “Mona Lisa” of chickens!

Enough fantasizing! You must take that bite. And you do, and you are so taken aback by this spectacular chicken that it sure is a good thing you are sitting down. Otherwise you might keel over from overwhelming pleasure. This succulent meat is sensual, luxurious and electrifyingly stupendous. It feels like fireworks are going off in your mouth with how deliciously intricate this experience has been. The meat is also so tender, all you have to do is poke it and it will fall off the bone.

Furthermore, the skin on this chicken has been so perfectly crisped you could eat it just on its own. And all of the essences from the sage, butter and onions has been soaked right into that skin, infusing it with food harmony.

Pair this dish with a lovely soup as an appetizer and a hardy starch to accompany the bird on your plate and you have, perfection. And don’t forget about the roasted veggies at the bottom of the pan! Those are incredibly delicious as well! Would I make this dish again? Heck yeah! No doubt about it.

Enjoy!

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