Cajun Chicken with Lemon & Thyme
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Make believe you’re on a bayou boat with this rollicking good roast. We’ve added a little taste of New Orleans to this week’s roast chicken.
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Ingredients you'll need
  • 1.6kg whole, free-range chicken
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 tsp cajun seasoning
  • A handful of thyme
From your kitchen
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
You'll need
  • Roasting
  • Foil
Step by step this way
  • 1.

    Heat your oven to 180ºC/Fan 160ºC/Gas 4. Unwrap your chicken and take out the giblets (you can save them to make chicken stock). Put it in a roasting tin and leave it to get up to room temperature.

  • 2.

    Quarter your lemon. Squeeze half the lemon over the chicken. Toss the squeezed lemon pieces into the roasting tin. Squeeze the juice from the remaining 2 pieces into the cavity of the chicken, then put the squeezed lemons inside too.

  • 3.

    Tuck a third of your thyme sprigs in the cavity. Slip another third of your thyme under the bird. Save the remaining sprigs for later. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of the Cajun spice and a good pinch of salt and pepper over the chicken and massage it all over the skin. Cover the whole dish tightly with foil. Roast in the oven for 1 hr.

  • 4.

    Remove the chicken from the oven. Crank the oven up to 220ºC/Fan 200ºC/Gas 7. Uncover the chicken. Baste with the roasting juices. Put the chicken back in the oven for 20-30 mins or till golden. Check the chicken is cooked by piercing the thigh near the bone with a sharp knife. The juices should run clear. If not, return to the oven and cook till they do.

  • 5.

    Remove the chicken from the oven. Cover it with foil and set aside to rest for 30 mins to 1 hr before carving. The roasting juices are so good they make an instant gravy. Just drizzle them over the carved meat, scatter over the remaining thyme leaves and get stuck in.

  • 6.

    Any leftovers?^ Shred any leftover chicken and stir through our Smoke & Spice Veg Stew. Find the recipe at www.abelandcole.co.uk/recipes

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