Juliet’s Roast Chicken with Sauerkraut

Who needs another roast chicken recipe?  Not me, would have been my response a few weeks ago.  But then Juliet came to visit.

Juliet was one of my flatmates in the uni’ years.  My mum always thought she’d be a good influence as she was a bit older than me, from Edinburgh and studying law.  Oh, how we still have a giggle about that!  Anyway, Jules came for a long overdue visit and catch up a couple of weekends ago and we had a ball.  She left me on the Sunday morning with a slight hangover (for the second day running), a chubbier dog and a great idea for that night’s dinner.  Roast chicken with sauerkraut.

That was a week past Sunday and we’ve made this two more times since.  Enough said, I think.

P.S. Being a recipe from her childhood and being half Macedonian, this recipe may or may not have its origins in the tiny, mountainous country.  I like to imagine it does.

Juliet’s Roast Chicken with Sauerkraut

1 chicken (I used a 1.6kg for four people)

1 900g jar of sauerkraut, drained and squeezed until a bit dryer

1 tblspn paprika plus a little extra

Salt

Pepper

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

300ml chicken or veg stock (powder is fine)

• Add the sauerkraut to a roasting tin.  Stir in the garlic and stock then sprinkle with the tablespoon of paprika.
• Pat the chicken dry then rub generously with salt, pepper and extra paprika.
• Place the chicken upside down on top on the sauerkraut and cover tightly with foil.
• Roast in a 190oC oven (45 minutes per kg + an extra 20 mins).
• Remove the foil and turn the chicken over.  Increase the oven heat to 220 oC and roast for a futher 10-25 mins.  Or blast it under the grill.  Your choice.
• Allow the chicken to rest for 10 mins before carving and serving on top of the chicken-y, paprika-y sauerkraut.

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