Cedar-Planked Lemon Thyme Chicken
- 1 whole, organic chicken (mine weighed 1.25 kg), rinsed inside and out
- 1 large bunch bunch of fresh lemon thyme
- 1-2 tablespoons Seasalt
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 1-2 bulbs of garlic
- Cedar plank, prepared according to manufacture's instructions or soak in water for 20 minutes prior to use
- Preheat your oven to 240 degrees centigrade. Set an oven rack in the middle. Place your cedar plank in an oven tray/brownie tin, place that on the rack and let heat up till it starts to crackle
- In the meantime, make a fragrant salt by pounding a large handful of lemon thyme with 1 - 2 tablespoons of sea salt, till a rough paste is formed
- Mix half of this paste with 1 tablespoon of butter and reserve the other half.
- Gently separate the skin above the breast from the flesh, so it doesn't tear and rub some lemon thyme butter underneath.
- Rub the remainder of the lemon thyme butter inside the cavity of the chicken, then stuff it with some stalks of lemon thyme and garlic cloves. Secure the opening with a toothpick or truss it up.
- Rub the reserved lemon thyme paste on the outside of the chicken, ensuring all bits are well rubbed.
- By this time, the cedar plank should be crackling. Bring it out of the oven and using a tea towel soaked in olive oil, rub it all over.
- Place the chicken on top of the plank, breast side up and pop in the oven. {Note you will need an hour per kg of chicken. Mine was ready in 1 hour 15 minutes.} If at anytime, you're worried the plank is getting too dry, put some water in the tray.
- About 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time, flip the bird over so the underside crisps up
- Once ready, bring out of the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Serve and carve the chicken...from the plank and serve with roasted garlic...on the side and potatoes!
chicken, lemon thyme, seasalt, butter, garlic, cedar plank
Taken from food52.com/recipes/3312-cedar-planked-lemon-thyme-chicken (may not work)