Sweet & Tangy Twist: Lemon Curd Roast Chicken on Lemon Potatoes

Today I have the most delicious savoury lemon curd recipe for you! This Lemon Curd Roast Chicken is an absolutely delicious way to roast chicken. Lemon curd or butter is mixed with garlic, rosemary, thyme and mustard giving it a honey lemon mustard quality. Best of all it is roasted atop lemon potatoes so it is a great all in one chicken tray bake. Plus we have a bonus course of lemony couscous. This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader.

I know, you're skeptical. I was too. I read about lemon curd chicken somewhere and I can't remember where. It was a while back perhaps almost a year, and while initially dubious, it was the sort of thing I couldn't get out of my mind. I filed it away for when I had some extra lemon curd.

During this year I'd occasionally think about this lemon curd chicken. I broke down the flavours of it - lemon curd has butter so that was a good start. There was lemon and there was sugar. Although lemon curd is a sweet spread you could draw delicious equivalencies with marmalade glazes on ham or fruit and chicken eg apricot chicken. The bit that I wasn't sure about were the egg yolks. How would they go on a roast chicken? Would it become grainy or curdled?

A year later and it was time to test it out.

And holy heavens it was glorious. Delicious. Brilliant. And I regretted waiting a whole year to make this.

I used a home made lemon curd because I am the lucky beneficiary of Valentina's wonderful eggs but needless to say that it would also work with a store bought one. There is nothing in the end product to suggest that you should be eating it with scones or in a dessert. The sweetness of the curd is balanced with the generous amount of garlic. I added a twist, serving them on my Greek lemon potatoes (because Go Lemon or Go Home). It's a time saver because the lemon potatoes take an hour while the chicken pieces take 35 minutes so you can send the potatoes on their merry way cooking while you prep the chicken.

Then, proving this is a recipe that just keeps giving, with the pan drippings and leftover stock that the lemon potatoes sat in (normal lemon potatoes don't have any liquid leftover but chicken adds liquid and having the chicken on top prevented airflow and didn't allow the stock to dry out), I made a 4 minute couscous flavoured with these drippings. This was one of those dinners that just kept on going. It was delicious, lemony (don't serve this to those that don't appreciate this wondrous fruit) and it had everything in one. And from now on, I will make up for that missed year by making this every time I have some lemon curd to spare!

So tell me Dear Reader, would you have been initially skeptical of lemon curd roasted chicken? Have you ever used lemon curd in savoury cooking?

Lemon Curd Roast Chicken on Lemon Potatoes

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Serves: 4 people

For Lemon Curd Chicken

• 1.5kg/3.3lb chicken, skin on, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup/125g/4ozs lemon curd
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 sprigs of rosemary (to make 1 tablespoon finely chopped needles)
• 4 sprigs thyme or lemon thyme (to make 2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 lemon, cut into quarters

For Lemon Potatoes

• 900g/2lbs potatoes
• 100ml/3.5ozs lemon juice
• 50ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1.5 teaspoons fine salt
• 1/2 cup/125ml/4flozs chicken stock

For Lemony Couscous

• 275ml/9.2flozs pan drippings/stock (after chicken cooks)
• 200g/7ozs couscous

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F fan forced. First start on the potatoes. Wash and scrub the potatoes well but do not peel. Cut each potato in half lengthways and then cut each half into 2 or 3 wedges. Place in a large bowl. In a jug measure the lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, garlic powder and salt. Pour over the potatoes and toss to coat. Then place in a large baking tray (33x26cms) in a single layer on the base. Add the chicken stock and roast for 30 minutes.

Step 2 - While the potatoes are cooking, prep the chicken. Take it out of the fridge and set it on the counter. In a small bowl mix the lemon curd, garlic, chopped rosemary, chopped thyme, mustard and salt. Slide your finger between the skin and meat of each chicken piece and push as far as it will go. Spoon a tablespoon of the lemon curd mixture between the meat and skin and spread out by massaging. Repeat with the remaining pieces then use the remaining half of the lemon curd to put on top of the chicken pieces. Sit it on the bench while the potatoes cook to take the chill off the chicken.

Step 3 - Once the 30 minutes is up, turn over any browned potato wedges. Then place the chicken pieces on top of the potatoes and place the lemon wedges between the chicken pieces. Roast for 35-40 minutes until caramelised. Gently tip the liquid pan drippings from the baking tray into a bowl. Measure the pan drippings and place in a small saucepan. You should have 275ml/9.2flozs but if not, top up with chicken stock or water. Heat until simmering. Turn off the heat and pour in the couscous and leave the lid on for 4 minutes. Fluff up with a fork and serve with the lemon chicken and potatoes.