Succulent and juicy, this is the most delicious chicken dish you can do at home

Succulent, juicy roasted chicken is one of life’s great pleasures. Paired here with hot chips and lemon mayo, this is one of the best chicken dishes you will ever make.

This is an edited extract from Food You Want to Eat by Thomas Straker (Bloomsbury, $50). Photography: Issy Croker

A delicious meal is all about great ingredients. It’s not about spending all day labouring in the kitchen. Talking to specialists can save you lots of time in this regard – it’s always better to seek out the advice of a really experiened fishmonger, say, than it is to buy an obscure and hideously expensive variety of seafood that you haven’t a clue how to prepare.

The best dishes are those where you do as little as possible to the ingredients, and just let them sing. At home, whether cooking just for yourself, for friends or for family, you want to feel comfortable with what you’re doing and you want your guests to be at ease too. I find people are generally at their most relaxed when there’s a sharing platter in the middle of the table and a couple of dishes on the side.

Try too my cavolo nero rigatoni recipe.

You will want to eat this. Photography: Issy Croker

Food You Want to Eat by Thomas Straker is out now.

Chicken & chips

Succulent, juicy roasted chicken is one of life’s great pleasures. Paired here with hot chips and lemon mayo, this is one of the best chicken dishes you will ever make.

Ingredients

• 1 large whole chicken, about 1.8kg
• Vegetable oil
• 3 shallots, roughly chopped
• 8 garlic cloves, bashed
• 6 thyme sprigs
• 200ml white wine
• 1.5 litres chicken stock
• 3 rosemary sprigs
• 50g unsalted butter
• Fine sea salt
• Mayonnaise, to serve

For the hot chips

• 4 large potatoes
• 3 rosemary sprigs
• Sea salt flakes

For the lemon mayonnaise

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus more
• to taste
• 105ml olive oil (any is fine here)
• 105ml vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon water, if needed
• Sea salt flakes

Method

1. Start by preparing your chicken. Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, remove the ends of the legs, the wings and the backbone from the whole chicken for the gravy. Cut the chicken in half through the breastbone and season both halves all over with fine salt. Set aside.
2. To make the gravy, put the chicken bones you’ve trimmed off in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and fry vigorously for 2-3 minutes to get some nice colour on them. Throw in the shallots and cook until lightly coloured, then add 4 of the garlic cloves and 3 thyme sprigs and cook for a further 2 minutes. Deglaze with the white wine and reduce by half, then pour in the stock. Simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut into chips. Pick 3 rosemary sprigs and finely chop, then mix them in a small bowl with sea salt flakes. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes and simmer for 6-8 minutes, then drain and spread out on a tray to steam-dry for at least 10 minutes.
4. Strain the chicken sauce into a bowl, then return it to the saucepan and continue to reduce until you have about 500ml of gravy.
5. Set a wide-based pan over a medium-low heat and add a good glug of vegetable oil. Add the chicken halves, skin-side down, and cook slowly for 15–20 minutes until well coloured.
6. Using something heavy to weigh the chicken down here is helpful for getting a good sear. After this time, flip the chicken halves over and cook on the other side for 10 minutes. Flip back again and add the butter to the pan along with the remaining 4 garlic cloves, 3 rosemary sprigs and 3 thyme sprigs. Cook until the butter is foaming, then use it to baste the chicken for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow it to rest for 15 minutes while you make the chips.
7. Pour a 2cm depth of vegetable oil into a large frying pan and heat until it reaches 180C. Shallow-fry the chips until golden-brown and crispy, then remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain off any excess on a rack or a tray lined with kitchen paper. Toss with most of the rosemary salt.
8. Meanwhile, reheat the gravy, if necessary. Serve the chicken with the rosemary chips and mayonnaise. Pour over as much gravy as you like and sprinkle with an extra pinch of rosemary salt before tucking in.

Serves 4

Lemon mayonnaise

Put the egg yolks, mustard and lemon juice in a food processor with a good pinch of salt. Pulse-blend until well combined. Pour the 2 oils into a jug. With the machine running, start to

slowly drizzle in the oils in a steady stream. If it starts to look too thick, you can add the 1 tablespoon water to loosen. Add the rest of the oils and blend until thick. Season to taste with salt, cover and store in the fridge until ready to use. It will keep for up to 5 days. This is a near-infinitely versatile condiment, so pimp it up as much as you want with herbs, chillies, different citruses, or anything else you fancy, to elevate your mayonnaise game.

Makes about 280g (or 1 small jar)