Roast Chicken with Bacon & Chive Waffles
- Author: eatlittlebird.com
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1hour 30 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Juice and mouthwatering Brined Roast Chicken with Bacon & Chive Waffles, inspired by Thomas Keller. After you have tried brining your chicken, you won’t roast chicken any other way!
Ingredients
For the brine
- 2 litres water
- 1/2 cup sea salt flakes
- 1/8 cup plus 1 tablespoon honey
- 6 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 2 large rosemary sprigs
- small bunch thyme sprigs
- small bunch flat-leaf parsley sprigs
- zest & juice of 1 lemon
For the Roast Chicken
For the Bacon & Chive Waffles
- 200 g (1 1/3 cup) plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 100 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 300 ml (1 cup plus 3 tablespoons) full cream milk
- 4–6 rashers of bacon
- freshly chopped chives
Instructions
To make the brine
- Combine all of the ingredients for the brine in a large pot and bring to the boil for about 1 minute until the salt has dissolved.
- Pour the contents into a large bowl (big enough to also take the chicken later) and set aside to cool completely. I tend to make this brine the night before making the roast chicken, and refrigerating the brine overnight.
- About 8 hours before you want to sit down to dinner, place the chicken in the brine, keeping it submerged with a plate if necessary.
- Refrigerate the chicken in the brine for 6 hours.
- After this time, remove the chicken from the brine, rinse it lightly, and pat it dry with some paper towels.
- Place the chicken on a roasting tray, preferably with a wire rack. Let the chicken sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
To make the Roast Chicken
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).
- Drizzle some olive oil all over the chicken and sprinkle with some Maldon sea salt and freshly ground white pepper.
- Place half a lemon in the cavity of the chicken, together with a few sprigs of thyme.
- Roast the chicken for about 20 minutes per 500 g (1 lb), plus an extra 30 minutes. After this time, the chicken should be bronzed in colour and the juices run clear if you poke the thigh meat with a knife.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and place it on a serving dish. Sprinkle the chicken with some fresh thyme leaves. Let it rest for about 10 minutes before carving.
To make the Bacon and Chive Waffles
- Make sure the eggs and milk are at room temperature. If the eggs are fridge cold, place them in a bowl with some warm water for about 20 minutes.
- Fry the bacon with some oil in a large frying pan and drain on paper towels. When they have cooled a little, use your hands to crumble the bacon into a bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
- In a small bowl or jug, whisk together the eggs, milk and butter.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together until you have a smooth batter.
- Stir in the crumbled bacon and add some chopped chives (as much or as little as you like). The batter will be quite thick at this stage.
- Heat the waffle machine.
- Pour some batter into the machine, making sure it covers most of the mould. Close the lid and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Makes about 6 waffles if using a heart-shaped waffle machine.
Kitchen Notes
OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly.
CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Nutritional info for the waffles
- Calories: 372
- Sugar: 3.7g
- Sodium: 562.5mg
- Fat: 23.9g
- Carbohydrates: 29.4g
- Fiber: 0.9g
- Protein: 9.8g
- Cholesterol: 114.3mg