A great dish for a party, but make sure you get this cooking on the barbecue well in advance of your guests arriving.
Serves: 4
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 75 minutes per kg
Total: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:
4 scotch fillet steaks
½ lemon
½ cup fresh coriander leaves
½ cup fresh parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 whole chicken, about 2 kg, with the giblets removed
olive oil, for drizzling
lemon slices, to garnish
fresh coriander or parsley, to garnish
Method:
Preheat the barbecue to a high heat of 200°C, with the hood closed.
Grate the zest from the lemon and set remaining lemon aside. Combine lemon zest, coriander, parsley and garlic in a blender or food processor. Season with pepper.
Place the chicken in a roasting pan, breast side up. Ease your fingers under the skin, starting at the neck end. Loosen the skin over the breasts and thighs, without breaking it. Push the lemon-and-herb paste under the skin, so that it covers the breasts and thighs evenly in a thin layer. Rub chicken all over with the lemon half and sprinkle generously with sea salt, then drizzle liberally with olive oil.
Place roasting pan on the barbecue hotplate or grill over indirect heat i.e. burners at the side are on but those directly underneath the roasting pan switched off. Close the hood. The chicken is cooked if the juices run clear when a knife is inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, about 2 ½ hours. Baste occasionally with the juices in the pan
Remove chicken from barbecue and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Garnish with lemon slices and sprigs of fresh coriander or parsley if desired.