It's no secret that a whole roast chicken is tasty, easy, and absolutely value for money.

I was grocery shopping last week, and fancied some chicken to add to a green curry (R was away, so I'm channelling my inner Orc like looks like meat's back on the menu, boys! ). I'm normally fairly shocked by Norwegian prices as it is, but holy guacamole this was a whole other level that I was not mentally prepared for.

The cheapest, super-extra-value brand chicken breasts were about 92kr per kilogram. The slightly nicer, probably not pumped with too many extra hormones and water, were anything between 130 - 180kr per kilogram. I... what. That's so expensive. They had a whole supermarket brand chicken, 1.2kg, for around 60kr in total, and I paid 45kr on sale. The difference is probably not quite so colossal in other places, but here it makes complete sense to buy a whole bird and get roasting. You'll have two breasts, two legs, and plenty of bits of meat that you can use in a curry or a salad.

The general impression is that a roast chicken is complicated, but it's actually one of the easiest meals you can make! Here's how I do it:

Before you start:
- Make sure your chicken is at room temperature. If the inside is cold, it won't cook evenly and you'll have a burnt bird with raw meat in the middle.
- Preheat your oven to 180-200c

1. Prepare a base for your chicken. If you place the chicken directly on the pan, it will just boil in its own juices rather than roast to a delicious crispy finish - you can place on a wire rack, but I like to make a bed of veggies for a complete meal in one.

Here, I used quartered potatoes and a couple of cooking apples, as well as a some garlic cloves tucked between. I tossed them lightly in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and used my hands to flatten them into a somewhat even base.

If you want crispy potatoes, try to keep them a little more separated on a bigger tray or roasting pan. I was in the mood for soft, buttery fondant-style potatoes that would cook in the juices, so I've packed them quite tightly.


2. In order to make sure my chicken is delicious and juicy, I like to rub seasoned butter between the skin and the breasts. If you lift up the skin by the breasts, there will be a delicate membrane holding the skin attached to the edge of the breast. Poke your finger in, and you'll be able to access the entire cavity along the breasts, and also along the thighs.

I mix slightly softened butter with salt and pepper - this creates a tasty roast chicken that won't interfere with other flavours, should you use the leftovers with a sauce or in a salad - and I spread it all over the breasts under the skin, and along the thighs.


3. You can add another layer of juiciness by stuffing the chicken - you can use a halved lemon and some herbs, an orange, stuffing mix... In this case, I used a halved cooking apple.


4. I like to truss up the legs and booty so that the apple won't fall out. Here I used toothpicks to just hold the skin over the cavity and secure it in place.


5. Place the chicken on the bed of veggies or the rack.


6. Place the chicken in your preheated oven, with the legs pointing towards the back. As the back of the oven tends to be hotter than the front, this will make sure the tougher legs are cooked at the same time as the more delicate breasts.


7. Roast for around 1 hour and 30 minutes - my rule is 1.5kg bird, 1.5 hours in the oven. Adjust for a larger or smaller bird as necessary. You can piece the meat on the leg to check if it's done, if the juices run clear then your chicken is good to go!


8. Let the bird rest to relax the meat, and to let it absorb all the juices that were released in cooking. If you carve it straight away, those juices embedded in the meat will pour out, and you'll have dry, sawdusty chicken. No thanks!


Look at how juicy that chicken breast is! So simple, so delicious. And now I have chicken for another 3 or 4 meals - so also really great value for money. Yum!