Roast Chicken with Fromage Frais and Lemon Recipe

1.5 kg/3-3 ½ lb roasting chicken with giblets
175 g/6 oz fromage frais
1 lemon
sea salt and pepper
a little sunflower oil
450ml/¾ pint hot water
0.75 kg/1½-21b small new potatoes, washed
 

Method:

• Remove the giblets from the bird and lay them in a large pan (roasting tin).

• Grate the rind of the lemon into the fromage frais and add a little salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity of the bird with this.

• Rub the skin of the chicken with a little oil. Place in the pan (roasting tin)on the giblets.

• Pour in 450ml/¾ pint of water with the juice of the lemon. Now put the little potatoes all around the chicken in the tin. Cover loosely with a piece of foil (just the chicken; leave the rest of the tin uncovered).

• Cook in a moderately hot oven (200°C, Gas Mark 6, 400°F) for 1½ hours.

• The chicken is ready when the leg joints move freely, and when pierced with a fine skewer the juice that runs should be clear, not pink. Test the potatoes too.

• Lift the chicken on to a warm dish to carve. Surround with the little potatoes. Remove the giblets and reserve them for making soup.