Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Roast Chicken

Polish Supper: Marjoram Steam Roasted Chicken

I’ve been craving really simple, winter warming food. It’s cold and there is something so comforting about all those lovely flavours coming together, especially with winter vegetables, made just the way we have it when we visit home. I have hundreds of cookery books but somehow, I love the way my mum and sister, Elizabeth make roast chicken.

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Alternative Easter Lunch: Roasted Poussins

These little chickens are really easy to prepare and make ahead if you are cooking for a crowd and would make a lovely alternative to roast lamb on Easter Sunday, especially if you don’t like lamb!

I have been making this recipe for a number of years now, the original came from an American cookbook called The Healthy Kitchen by Dr Andrew Weil, which I lent to someone many years ago and somehow never reclaimed! 
 
I remember that the original recipes uses lemon pepper, which I believe you can buy in the States, (I just make my own) and also fennel, which I haven’t used, along with tomatoes, red wine and lots of garlic. I have adapted the recipe slightly and once the chickens have taken on all the flavours of the lemon, pepper, garlic, herbs and red wine you are left with a lovely sauce too.
 
To serve, you can very easily cut the chicken in two and serve half a portion, or depending on the size of the little chickens and appetites, just go all out and give everyone an individual bird!
 

 

Roasted Poussins with Lemon Pepper, Garlic and Red Wine
Inspired by Dr Andrew Weil, The Healthy Kitchen

Ingredients

4 whole baby chickens/poussins
A few springs of thyme or lemon thyme
Zest of two lemons
1 teaspoon corse black pepper
8 cloves of garlic
3 onions, quartered
6 vine ripened tomatoes, quartered
250 ml red wine
Sea Salt

Method

1. Put the baby chickens into a roasting tin or tray big enough to fit the chickens and some extra ingredients around the side.
2. To make the lemon pepper rub/marinade, put the zest of two lemons, the black pepper and a few springs of thyme into a bowl and bash together to make a paste. Rub this all over the little chickens with a sprinkle of salt.
3. Take the garlic, tomatoes and onion and stuff a bit into each cavity, tumble the rest around the chickens. You can leave this to sit now for an hour or two, covered in the fridge.
4. When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 190 degrees celcius. Pour the wine all over the chickens and cook for one hour and fifteen minutes, or until the juices run clear. Leave to rest, covered in foil, for fifteen minutes before serving.