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Tuesday 7 February 2012

Minus eight and a house filled with the aroma of lemon and thyme chicken.

According to the local radio, tonight's temperature could be as low as minus eight and as I am feeling very peckish I have spent this afternoon oven roasting a succulent chicken filled with a whole lemon and fragrant thyme picked fresh from the garden and sprinkled lovingly over the partially cooked meat two thirds through the cooking process. I also prepared some roasting vegetables, peppers, onions, tomatoes and garlic and placed them in the oven around the roasting bird around the same time. On gas mark seven they now had three quarters of an hour to cook through and flavour the chicken further. Furthermore, I lightly boiled a few new potatoes to add to the dish.


Next door's cat, Mr Harris, came in to check that all was well with the chicken and found it perfectly OK as he sniffed the air like a cat version of the Bisto kids. He also found it perfectly (and a bit alarmingly) OK to bite my fingers as I stroked his sweet little head affectionately. I think it was the strong smell of the thyme. He's never bit me before. Interestingly, I gave him a bit of the the cooked chicken when it had come out of the oven and had cooled down enough to be comfortable for a little cat's mouth to eat. He had a bit but didn't seem that fussed. He either wasn't hungry or the lemon and thyme flavours put him off.


Anyway, I enjoyed it and there is plenty left for another day or another dish to enjoy.







4 comments:

Karenjane said...

Yummy - I do my chicken the same way too. Sometimes I cut out the backbone & lay the chicken flat in a baking tray (sort of spatchcocked - is that the right word?), & put veggies underneath, where they cook in any juices & fat which comes off the meat. And it has the added bonus of only using one cooking implement - one thing I hate about doing a roast dinner is having endless pots & pans to deal with afterwards.

Unknown said...

You always seem to take care with the dishes you cook. It looked like it made a very cold day more bearable for you.

Phil Lowe said...

Karen: Yes spatchcocked is the term and putting the veggies underneath the joint is a tried and trusted method of cooking. I sometimes wish i had a dish washer, alas it is 'me' that is the dish washer not a machine. I have started washing up as i go along to save the headache of the mound of washing up.

Phil Lowe said...

Gailsman: I do my best to be caring about what I cook and eat. It just seems to make the experience more enjoyable.