Roast Chicken with Orange & Ginger

• 1 large free-range chicken
• 250ml freshly squeezed orange juice

Finely grated zest from 2 oranges

• 3 – 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3cm piece ginger, finely grated (1 Tbsp)
• 125ml / half a cup chicken stock
• 4 oranges cut into wedges

olive oil

ground ginger

• 2 – 3 Tbsp brown sugar

salt and freshly ground white pepper

Pre heat the oven to 200C

1. Make the stock and then add the orange juice, zest, garlic and ginger and mix. Pour this over and into the cavity of the chicken. Season the bird well with salt and white pepper and place in a smallish roasting tin with sides (it should fit fairly snugly) and roast for 45 minutes.
2. Toss the orange wedges in olive oil, some salt and pepper and place in a single layer on a baking tray. Sprinkle over a little ground ginger and the brown sugar.
3. At 45 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven and baste it with the juices and then return it to roast with the tray of oranges for a further 45 minutes and until it’s golden brown all over. You may need to give it another baste. You may also need to loosely cover the bird with a piece of foil if it is over browning. This will all depend on your oven.
4. *Tip if you like your roast chicken browned all over, and I mean who doesn’t? start roasting it with the breast side down for the first half and then flip it over to brown the top for the second half of the roast. This should also help prevent the breast drying out, as initially it will be submerged in the liquid.