Ferran Adrià’s roasted chicken

An impromptu diner lead to a seriously good roasted chicken – my poor suffering testers guests still talk about it. For bonus points, combine it with roasted potatoes, onions and romesco sauce.

Roasted chicken (adapted from Ferran Adrià’s The Family Meal)

Ingredients (6-8 persons)

• 4-6 bay leaves
• 40 g dried rosemary
• 15g dried thyme
• Black pepper corns to tast (about 1 tablespoon)
• Olive oil as needed to brush the chicken
• Salt
• A total of bout 4 kg  whole chickens (I ended up with 3 chickens)
• 3 lemons  (1 per chicken)
• 6  unpeeled garlic cloves (2 per chicken)
• 200 mL white wine
• water

Method

Preheat the oven to 220 oC.

Start the herb crust:  put in a small blender the bay, rosemary, thyme and peppers. Process until you have a very fine powder.

Prepare the chicken to be roasted – wash, cut the tips of the wings and tail. Season with salt and pepper inside and outside.

Put  the chicken on a roasting tray lined some olive oil, breast up.  Brush the chicken with olive oil and finely great the lemon zest over it. Stuff it with 1 lemon cut in pieces and 2 garlic cloves.

Roast the chicken, breast up. After 25min, turn it around and let it roast for another 35min, or until golden and cooked through.

Remove the chicken and set aside covered with foil.

Poor the white wine and the water in the cooking tray to deglaze and remove all the sediments.

Collect all the cooking juices in a small pan and put on high heat. Boil the cooking juices until you have a gravy.

Carve the chicken and serve it with the gravy