Jointed Chicken for Slow Roasted Lemon Chicken

Asked by rach_otoole. Answered on 5th May 2015

Full question

Hi. After reading the reviews for the Slow Roasted Garlic And Lemon Chicken I am keen to try it out, but am a bit daunted about buying a chicken and cutting it into ten pieces. Is this easy to do, especially if you don't have a butchers' knife, and if so what is the best approach? Many thanks

Our answer

Nigella's Slow Roasted Garlic And Lemon Chicken (from Nigella Summer and on the Nigella website) is a popular dish as it is not only delicious but it also requires very little effort on the part of the cook. The chicken is jointed into 10 pieces which gives 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks, 2 sets of wings and 4 pieces of breast (each breast piece is cut into 2). Buying a whole chicken and jointing it is often more economical than buying the parts individually and for this dish it is useful as you want the bone and skin to be attached still to the chicken pieces.

If you are buying from a butcher then he/she should joint it for you if you ask. In a supermarket you could ask at the butchery counter if they can joint it for you. If neither of these options are available unfortunately we do not have the space to describe the process here, but there are many videos that show the process on the internet. If you find it too daunting then it is possible to substitute the chicken with 10 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on) or a combination of drumsticks and thighs.