Elevated Roast Chicken

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 200°C, 400°F, Gas Mark 6.
2. *
3. Mash the butter in a bowl together with the parsley, sage, chives and the zest of the lemon, season well. Mix until well combined.
4. *
5. Gently loosen the skin of the chicken over the breast with your fingers, releasing as much as you can over the breast and thighs. Carefully, spread the herby butter generously under the skin. Push the butter as far along the breast and legs as possible taking care not to rip the skin.
6. *
7. Put the chicken into a roasting tin and season the skin well. Cook in the preheated oven for 1hour 30 mins.
8. *
9. To prepare the potatoes, place a potato on a chopping board between the handles of 2 wooden spoons (or 2 chop sticks). Slice through the potato until the knife blade is stopped by the spoon handles. Slice again, 2-3 mm away, and repeat until the potato is sliced all the way along. It will end up looking a bit like a book with lots of pages held together by the €˜spine.
10. *
11. Put the potatoes in a roasting tin and drizzle with 2 tbs of the oil. Rub each one to coat well with oil. Sprinkle with garlic salt and season with pepper. When the chicken has been cooking for 30 mins, baste it well and add the potatoes to the top shelf of the oven.
12. *
13. Peel all of the vegetables and cut the carrots and parsnips into finger sized strips. Cut the onion into wedges and put them all into a wide oven dish or roasting tin. Mix together the remaining oil, balsamic, honey, thyme and season. Drizzle the mixture all over the vegetables and shuffle them around in the baking dish so they are well coated. When there is 40 minutes cooking time remaining, add the veg to the oven.
14. *
15. Depending on the size and efficiency of your oven, you may need to swap the oven trays shelf position to ensure everything is cooked at the same time. If the potatoes or veg cook quicker than the chicken, just take them out when theyre done and cover with foil to keep them warm.
16. *
17. The chicken will benefit from resting for 10 minutes after cooking and will keep its heat, so if that is done first, just set aside to rest. All will be reheated when its festooned with piping hot gravy!
18. *
19. When everything is ready, mix the gravy granules with the boiling water and serve.
20. *