Lemon butter braise roast chicken
This is my all time favorite way to roast a whole butterflied chicken. It combines the method of braising and roasting so that the result is browned chicken with an ultra juicy sauce.
It’s very straight forward and simple. Firstly, make the lemon butter and rub it all over the chicken. Sear it on both sides before adding the cooking liquid. Add aromats like shallot, garlic and lemon before placing into the oven uncovered.
The chicken browns into a beautiful deep golden brown crispy skin whilst contributing the lemon butter drippings to the sauce.
Pair with sautéed vegetables like broccolini and spring onion. Spoon over the sauce and enjoy.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter, room temperature (salted or unsalted)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, zested
1 whole butterflied chicken, about 1.5 kg, 3.3 lbs
your favorite seasoning rub, or a few big pinches of salt and ground black pepper
2 shallots, sliced into rounds
5 garlic cloves, rough chop
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
Sides: broccolini & spring onion
Method:
Make lemon butter: combine softened butter, olive oil and lemon zest in a small bowl and mash until combined. Slice the lemon in half and squeeze the juice from one half into the mixture. Mix and set aside. Preheat oven to 200C/390F. Slice the other half of the lemon into rounds and set aside.
Season chicken: pat chicken with a paper towel all over. Sprinkle seasoning rub or salt and pepper generously all over both sides of the chicken and pat it onto the skin all over. Pat lemon butter all over the chicken, doing your best to press it on, it will slip off in certain places which is okay, just press on as much as you can, as evenly as you can.
Sear the chicken: bring a large skillet or oven safe fry pan over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add the chicken skin side down and sear for 2-3 minutes. Flip once the skin is dark golden and sear on the other side. Once that side is seared, add the aromats.
Add aromats: scatter shallots, lemon slices and garlic cloves around the chicken.
Add cooking liquid: pour in wine and chicken stock around the chicken, trying not to pour directly on the chicken breast so that it can crisp in the oven.
Roast: leave uncovered and place onto the center rack in the oven. Roast for 45 mins-1 hour or until a thermometer reads 74C/165F through the breast. Halfway through roasting, remove from the oven and spoon over the cooking liquid all over the chicken. Place back into the oven to finish roasting. Once finished, the chicken should be a deep golden brown all over the top and sides.
Carve the chicken: by removing the legs (they should fall right off) and slicing breast in half. Separate the thighs from the legs and the wings from the breasts.
Strain the sauce: pour the cooking liquid from the pan through a fine mesh strainer into a measuring glass or bowl to remove the solids from the liquid. Discard the solids. The liquid is now your sauce to spoon over the dish!
Serve: with sautéed broccolini and spring onion stalks. Enjoy!
