The Holiday Cluck Part 2

The Holiday Roasted Chicken was a success! Teehee :)

So, continuing where I left off....

The vegetable stuffings.
There's broccoli, bombay onions, red, yellow and green capsicums, carrots, button mushrooms and water chestnuts (gives a next crunchy texture)
The capsicums are a must have! It's the most suitable vegetable to bake, it softens and crisps at the edges and are oh-so-sweet :D
Its better to stir fry the stuffing first. Roasting time can be easily shortened by half. The stuffings will be softer and the meat juicier.

After that just stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff! This is kinda the fun part ;) Since the hole was too big, mummydearest sewed it up. This is important to prevent the stuffing from flowing out when you're roasting the chicken.

Preheat the oven to 175 - 200 degrees Celsius, depending on the size of the chicken. The temperature should not be over 250 degrees, if not the outer part especially the skin would be burnt before the insides are cooked. Happened before :x

Before you place your chicken on the baking tray, grease the base with LOTS and LOTS of butter. Very important. I didn't spread enough, so one side of the chicken was stuck onto the base. Not a pretty sight when you flip over the chicken later on during baking (will explain later), ruins the whole glazed chicken look. Rub more butter around the chicken for crispy skin. Sprinkle a generous amount of Lea & Perrins' sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.

Already 30 minutes into roasting and the chicken still remained a nude colour. I was starting to get a tad bit worried that it wouldn't work out. But not to worry. It takes about one and a half hour to fully roast the chicken. I'm using a pretty old oven, so I guess it'll be faster for those new high-tech ovens.

When the roast chicken starts to look like a "roast" chicken, take it out, glaze the chicken with honey. I used the genuine jungle honey I bought from Cameron Highlands about 2 years back. Honey and Lea & Perrins sauce go very well together. Don't have to worry about too much honey, because it's all natural sweetness. Only start rubbing the honey when the chicken is almost done, if you rub it on too early, the skin of the chicken will look burnt.

After one and a half hour.... VIOLA!

The Holiday Roasted Chicken! Cluck cluck :D
I know it looks nothing close to those Roasted Turkey on TV. I'm working on the perfect "roasted" look. Still learning.

Thankfully is tasted GREAT. Loved the Lea & Perrins sauce! It went so well with honey. Oh yeah, forgot to mention... When rubbing honey around it, remember to turn the chicken over. Michael Smith said it's important to do that. Why? Simple : Gravity. When you turn the chicken over, it keeps the moisture in the chicken. Then it will not be dry but JUICY.

So glad it turned out well. It was my first time roasting the chicken using the oven. So yeah... The satisfactory feeling :) Made several mistake. Will definitely try making it again. Trial and error towards roasting the perfect golden brown roasted chicken :p

Laima came over with her signature Lobak. Her Lobak is absolutely to DIE FOR! Crispy on the edges and so soft & juicy on the inside. She has a secret recipe to it, all her relatives were asking for it. And only I know about it. Nyeheheheh! The legacy shall go on :D

I'm so stuffed. I love Christmas dinner :D
Next I shall try meatloaf and roasted beef.
Teehee... I love cooking :)

Gotta run now... Tomorrow's gonna be a looong day.
Davy's flying off to Aussieland for a couple of weeks. Leaving us to start our boring college life.
Boohoo!