Recipe: Roast chicken

Firstly, half an hour before putting it in the oven, season the inside and outside of the chicken with your poultry spice blend (if you don't have one yet, use salt, pepper, nutmeg, a bit of thyme, and a bay leaf), then drizzle it with lemon juice.

Preheat your oven to 220°C (th7+).

Coat your chicken with soft butter and place it in an ovenproof dish, laying it on one thigh.

Place your 3 peeled and halved shallots at the bottom of the dish (or small spring onions), your cleaned liver and heart, and a bit of thyme flower.

Let it cook like this for 20 minutes, basting it occasionally. Remove the liver and heart, then, using a fork, turn it onto the other thigh for an additional 20 minutes of cooking.

Straighten your poultry (it will be "upright" now), pour 25 cl of water into the bottom of the dish, season a bit, and finish cooking for another 15 minutes.

Cooked this way, your poultry will be evenly cooked, both thighs and breast.

To check if your poultry is well-cooked, take a plate and turn your chicken upside down; the juice should run clear without any trace of blood.

Using a fork, turn your chicken to mix the juices from the inside and those from the cooking. Season if needed, strain the juice, and serve it in a sauceboat.

Carving the roast chicken:

Detach the 2 thighs, not forgetting the two oysters. On your work surface, cut them in half at the joint, then remove the wingtips, and cut the wings at the joint.

Look carefully at the base of the neck; to hold the two breasts, there is a small V-shaped bone called the wishbone. Remove it by pulling it a little, and then you can more easily separate the breasts.

Presentation of the roast chicken:

On a beautiful long platter, thighs and fatty parts of thighs on each side, the sliced liver and heart, the wings next to them, and the sliced breasts in the middle of the plate, just drizzled with a bit of juice on top, the rest served in a gravy boat – and then, delicious!

Accompaniments can be varied: mixed vegetables, grandma's mashed potatoes, sautéed new potatoes from the island of Ré, mushrooms (porcini or chanterelles) and bacon, fresh peas (with a hint of mint), etc.

Personally, I like roast chicken with a watercress salad seasoned with a touch of balsamic vinegar, a bit of rapeseed oil, and large fries cooked in duck fat.

But you can also be creative by serving it with a soybean persillade or a sauté of Jerusalem artichokes and smoked duck bacon.

Above all, if you have any juice left, keep it, pour it into an ice cube tray, and off to the freezer. You cannot imagine how it changes the taste of Sunday night macaroni.