Noch Noch’s Roast Half Chicken

Last week, I finally had the privilege of trying out Shanti’s sand ginger chicken over a girly dinner. Needless to say, I stuffed myself . The next day as I was grocery shopping, I came across half a chicken looking lonesome, which made me think of Shanti – not that she’s a chicken. But I thought maybe I could try some chicken recipes, too since I rarely ever cook chicken. At the same time, I might rescue the half chicken from its loneliness. I named it ‘Chickie’.

To help Chickie maximize its full potential to satiate our beastly desires, I decided to cook it for dinner that night. Not cooked in a pot like Shanti’s sand ginger chicken, the easiest thing to do was perhaps a roast. The only other thing more important than the temperature of a roast, is the marinade. I was feeling creative and so without much contemplation, threw in a bit of garlic, soy sauce, and ginger, mixed with a few spoonfuls of olive oil. Opened the fridge to see what else I could use, and settled upon 2 fresh oranges for juice and zest. I mixed it in and showered it over my dear little Chickie, and sprinkled a couple sprigs of rosemary for extra flavor.

After two hours marinating in this concoction, I popped Chickie in the oven and turned on the broiler for two minutes. As the skin browned, I lowered the temperature and baked it for 45 minutes. In the meantime, I chopped up some vegetables I found in the fridge, probably left over from another night’s cooking, and then put them in with the roast as well.

I got a thumbs up from my fiancé, whom I fed that night with my little roast chicken: the first savory bite was fragrant with rosemary. What I enjoyed most was the sweet tangy after taste from the orange juice and zest infused in the chicken meat. The vegetables were also rich with juice. This was one of the easiest meals I prepared. I bought only the chicken with everything else already at home and only had to throw into the mix.

Not only KFC is ‘finger lickin’ good!’ Get inspired and create your own little roast chicken, too! But… Chickie is mine! — Noch Noch

Ingredients

½ a chicken

Marinade

• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1-inch piece ginger, minced
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 oranges, juice and zest
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• Vegetables your heart desires, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Salt

Method

1. Marinate chicken for 2 hours in the fridge. Place chicken half over a bed of vegetables tossed in the marinade, in roasting pan.
2. Preheat oven at broil for 10 minutes. Place chicken in the oven and broil for 2 minutes. As it browns, turn the temperature down to 220°C and bake for 45 minutes. Salt to taste. Serve hot and enjoy!

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