Simple One Pot Roast Chicken

Star Q

i.  Gotong-Royong di SJKC Air Kuning Selatan

ii.  Salad with Tahini Dressing

iii.  Time for Caution

The girls are home. My son and his wife are home.  Everyone is home.  The house is a hive of activities; well after 10 a.m. anyway, when most of us (except me and my wife) get up to see what is for breakfast.

The description is something that usually happens in our household especially long holidays or extended weekends and the long Chinese New Year holiday recently was no exception.  I have grown accustomed to the idea of toiling in the kitchen with my wife, fulfilling the requests of our children when they are on holiday.

Surprisingly it was my wife who made such a request that day.   She had suggested that we (meaning me!) cooked roast chicken with all the sides.  Well, I knew that 'all the sides' would mean spending hours in the kitchen, so I opted for an easier alternative to prepare the dish; all in one.

• 1 whole chicken (1 1/2 kg) cleaned
• 2 tbs butter
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp grated garlic
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 kg Russet potatoes, cut into quarters
• 3 white onions, cut into wedges
• 1 large red capsicum
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 chicken stock cube

Place the potatoes, onions and capsicum into a large pot to form a trivet for the chicken to sit on.  Crumble the chicken stock cube and sprinkle evenly over the vegetables.  Mix the butter, oregano, rosemary, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper and rub generously all over the chicken.  Push some of the butter mixture under the chicken skin.  Place a few onion wedges inside the cavity of the chicken.  Place the chicken in the pot on top of the vegetables.  Pour the water.  Cover the pot and over a very low flame, cook for about one hour until the potatoes have softened and the chicken has cooked.

Note : Even though the chicken was already cooked, I browned it in the oven along with the potatoes for twenty minutes at 200 C.