Orange and oregano-infused roast chicken

An intense marinade gives a childhood favourite a sophisticated twist. By Anna Trapido.The only character I care to remember from school history lessons is the 17th century French King Henri IV whose stated ambition was for all his subjects to have a poule au pot on Sundays. Henri had in mind a stewed bird with vegetables but I think that the definition of a good Sunday is the smell of a chicken roasting in the oven.

There is nothing so comforting as roast chicken. It is the growing-up taste we never grow out of. And yet, sometimes it is nice to have a contemporary twist on a well-loved classic. This recipe, adapted from Diana Henry’s truly wonderful cookbook, Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons, is a grown-up variant on the Sunday classic. It is a delicious combination of ancient and modern which will send an irresistible citrus-and-oregano, North Africaninspired waft through your house but will still provide just the right nod to the nostalgia of roast chickens past. For those of us still lamenting the end of the summer fruit season, the oranges and limes in this recipe remind us that winter offers fruity pleasures of its own.

The original recipe calls for four petit poussins which are literally spring (or baby) chickens. They look pretty and they are ideal for picnics or other situations where eating with your hands is called for, but if you can’t find miniature cluckers you can use a large adult bird and simply increase the cooking time. I prefer to use a flavoursome full-sized chicken because the flesh of baby chickens is often without character. An intense marinade, such as is required for the recipe below, can overwhelm the poor little birdies.

Orange and oregano-infused roast chicken

Zest and juice of 1 orange
Zest and juice of 1 lime
6 T balsamic vinegar
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
½ cup olive oil
Leaves from 10 sprigs of thyme
3 T dried oregano
4 baby chicken or 1 large full-sized chicken
4 oranges, skin left on, cut into wedges
4 limes, skin left on, cut into wedges
1 t orange blossom water
4 T olive oil (to drizzle over the bird as it cooks)

Mix the zests, juice, vinegar, garlic, thyme, oregano,
olive oil and orange blossom water together and place
the chicken (or chickens) breast side down, into the
marinade. Allow the bird to steep in the refrigerator
for at least two hours, ideally overnight.
Turn every few hours so as to ensure that the marinade
infuses well all over.
Preheat the oven to 180º C.
Place the chicken in a roasting tin, drizzle with a little
additional olive oil and surround with the lime and the
orange segments.

While the bird is cooking, baste with the marinade at
regular intervals.

Novice cooks always worry about how to know if
the chicken is fully cooked. The secret is in the juices.
Chicken is cooked when the juices run clear. If the juices
are pink, the bird is not yet cooked but it is making
progress towards completion. If you pierce your bird
and there is no juice at all, it has a long way to
go. In this recipe the baby chicken juices should run clear
after about 40 minutes. A large chicken may take a
further 15 minutes.

When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan
and set it aside to rest for 10 minutes in order for
the meat juices to settle. Chicken should rest on its
breast so that the juices can permeate the flesh rather than
simply drip into the body cavity where they will be lost.
This will give the flesh more taste and keep it moist.
Do not cover the bird with foil while it is resting as this will
simply trap steam and cause the flesh to toughen.
If it is not cut, a roasted chicken will stay warm without
foil for at least 15 minutes.