Come and make my roast chicken interesting!

[misshardbroom]

I have a large chicken that has to be used today, and I'm not in the mood for a traditional roast chicken dinner.

I usually chuck it in the oven with a bit of garlic and lemon, but what else could I do?

I make a flavoured butter, for example, soften some butter, add orange zest, garlic, black pepper and some salt, some nutmeg too if you like. Then get your chicken and cut a couple of slits in the skin near the neck. Use a spatula to separate the skin from the meat and stuff butter under it, spread it around and place skin back down - this really makes a difference when I make a roast chicken, tastes lovely. I often stab the leftover orange which I've zested a few times and jam it inside the chicken before cooking. Keeps the whole thing really moist when cooking. HTH.

I also effectively boiled a chicken in homemade stock the other day for making a chicken mole. Whilst I wouldn't recommend the mole sauce I made, the meat was fantastic and fell off the bone. It did us 2 dinners and DH's lunch.

I mix chopped bacon, garlic and lemon zest with tons of butter. I then squish it and stuff it under the skin, so that it sits between the skin and the meat. I then smear butter over the skin and drape bacon over the top, and put the left over lemon inside the carcass.

We had roast Thai style chicken with coconut curry gravy the other night and it was fabuloso.

Make a spice rub out of Thai/Chinese spice mix, lime zest/juice oil, salt and lemon and rub it all over.

Stick some Thai things up it's bum (preferably edible Thai things) like limes, lemongrass, ginger.

Roast as usual.

Once cooked get the juices and add some stock, coconut milk and thai curry paste (red or green) to make a gravy.

Serve with rice and pak choi or stir fried veg.

I would tailor it to suit whatever you've got in (so, Indian curry paste would work too).

I've been bunging mine in roasting tray on top of veg (carrots, celery, onion & potato - all drizzled in olive oil). Lemon up chick's bum, either rub with butter or olive oil (all over), salt & pepper. Chuck in oven for about 1 3/4 hrs (depending on size of bird). Check veg half way through - if getting a bit dry, just add some boiling water. Keep turning veg - say 3 times during cooking. Beautiful! Serve with bread sauce if you can be bothered

Thanks for all your replies, there's some really good ideas, I especially like the idea of the braised one and the Thai one, will definitely try those.

Due to it being Ocado Eve, as my children call it, the Hardbroom cupboard is bare, so I've resorted to making a barbecue-ish glaze (mustard, lemon, garlic, bit of ketchup, smoked paprika) which I've brushed over the whole thing and bunged it in the oven as usual.

Having it with roasted veg (peppers, courgette, etc) and jacket potatoes.