Spiced roast chicken with carrots and bread sauce
A spiced butter and cream cheese rub makes this roast chicken irresistible.
Ingredients
For the spice mix
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 star anise
- ½ tsp black peppercorns
- 2.5cm/1in cinnamon stick
- 3–4 cloves
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- salt, to taste
For the chicken
- 200g/7oz cream cheese
- 200g/7oz soft butter
- 150²µ/5½´Ç³ú brioche breadcrumbs
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 1 small bunch of tarragon
- 1 x 1.5–2kg/3lb 5oz–4lb 6oz free-range chicken
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú butter, melted
- 100ml/3½fl oz white wine
- 350ml/12fl oz chicken stock
For the carrots
- 300g/10½oz baby carrots
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- ½ tsp coriander seeds, crushed
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
- 1 orange, juice and zest
For the bread sauce
- 1 medium onion, peeled
- 5–6 cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 peppercorns
- 500ml/18fl oz full-fat milk
- 100g/3½oz fresh white breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú butter
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
For the spice mix, toast all the spices, except the turmeric, in a hot dry frying pan for a minute or so, until they become fragrant. Tip into a spice blender, or pestle and mortar, add the turmeric and blend to a fine powder.
For the chicken, mix the cream cheese, butter, brioche breadcrumbs, lemon zest, tarragon and the spice powder and season well. Put the mixture into a piping bag.
Place the chicken in a roasting tin. Lift the skin of the chicken and pipe in the spice butter mixture. Rub gently to spread it evenly under the skin. Spread the remaining mixture over the legs to cover them.
Rub some olive oil over the chicken and season with salt and pepper.
Roast the chicken for 22 minutes per 500g/1lb 2oz. Baste regularly with melted butter to make sure the skin is moist while cooking.
To check the chicken is done, pierce the thigh with a knife. If the juices run clear, it’s cooked. Take the chicken out of the tin. Set it aside to rest.
To make the gravy, place the tin on the hob, heat gently and scrape the bits from the pan. Stir in 1 tablespoon of flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and simmer to reduce in volume by half. Add the stock. Simmer for 5–6 minutes and then season with salt and pepper. Pass the gravy through sieve into a jug and keep warm until serving.
For the carrots, cook the carrots in boiling water until al dente. Heat the oil in a pan and cook the garlic until soft. Add the coriander seeds and pine nuts, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the carrots and cook for 2–3 minutes. Add the orange juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper.
For the bread sauce, stud the onion all over with the cloves, and then put it in to a saucepan with the bay leaf, peppercorns and milk. Bring to the boil, remove the pan from the heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes. Remove the onion, bay leaf, cloves and peppercorns, and then stir in the breadcrumbs and curry powder.
Return the pan to the heat and cook very gently for 5–10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the breadcrumbs have absorbed all the liquid. Stir in the butter and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
To serve, carve the chicken into slices and serve with bread sauce, gravy and carrots.