A christmas alternative to turkey is chicken. If you remember my previously Christmas recipe post was a recipe for Zaater & Sumac Chicken and it went down a storm with my in-laws. So I thought I would remind you all that you can cook this simple roast with Middle Eastern flavour for your Christmas lunch/dinner.  I also wanted to show you can do a very classic roast with lemon and rosemary, you can add lots of garlic to this recipe if you like.

For this recipe I used two small chickens in the same roasting dish. I liked the thought of cooking two and comparing which ones my boys would like.  By doing this I economised on cooking time. I tried hard not to let the flavours mix, so if its possible you can separate the two chickens in different dishes, that is if you want to do two flavoured roast chickens!

Sumac is rather citrus hence no need to use lemon. Good quality zaater is best and can be found in Middle Eastern shops. I am using two types of onions as each have their own unique flavour and match the herbs I am using for each chicken.

 

Lemon & Rosemary chicken Ingredient 

1 baby chicken

1 lemon

2 tablespoons of rosemary

Seasoning

2 tablespoons of butter

1 small onion

3 cloves of garlic

 

Zaater & Sumac chicken Ingredient 

1 baby chicken

1 red onion

Seasoning

4 tablespoons of olive oil

3 tablespoons of zaater

1 tablespoon of sumac

1 teaspoon of cinnamon  (if desired)

 

Method

Step 1- For each chicken, smother the ingredient all over the chicken both outside and inside. Stuff onion and garlic and lemon inside the chicken.

Step 2- Place some slice onions on the bottom of the oven dish and place etc chicken on top.

Step 3- Place in the oven on 180C.  Turn the chicken around to get the whole chicken crispy.

Once chicken fully cooked  serve hot with roast vegetables and salad.

I hope you all enjoy this meal that you cooked with your loved ones.  This roast is very simple and can be cooked ANYTIME of the year and is versatile  in terms of eaten with so many side dishes.

I just want to wish you all a very happy Christmas even if you are not celebrating it. Take time to cook a beautiful meal for yourself and others, enjoy eating it forget about doing the dishes till the next morning.

At this time of the year it may feel hectic and stressful, so please remember to look after your wellbeing. If you are in charge of cooking christmas lunch / dinner, take it easy, have  breaks in between, ask people to help you, divide the workload. Maybe plan two days in advance and prepare your cooking day. Remember that you should enjoy this time too and don’t live to an unexpected ideal that you put on yourself. Do your best and enjoy your time with your family and friends.

I want you to do something that I will be doing this week and next. I want you to take time to yourself and take stock of all the things that happened and didn’t this year. Look at how far you have come, all the goals you achieved, all the surprises that the universe gifted you and of course all the blessings, the little things that brought a smile to yours face.  Of course life throws curve balls at us, and I have plenty this year. So my advice is to you all is to take your time and surround yourself with loving supportive people.  Do things that make you happy, look after yourself  and gift yourself a thank you present for being so amazingly strong and beautiful.  Talk about and understand these curve balls that have hurt you or misaligned you.  Try and readjust how you view things or how you reach goals and what is your priority and mission. If these are big questions then take your time answering them.

Remember that the new year will have its own challenges and adventure. So be hopeful and courageous that 2019 will be filled with more spectacular surprises and achievements from your and the universe.

Thank you for your support. Thank you for following my blog and my Instagram.

I hope to continue to blog more and achieve more in 2019.

So for now, I am going to start my christmas lunch list ! It will be just us four this year and I need to find christmas crackers, which is not very easy in Paris as its a very British thing!

Lots of love

Wafa Jawad Abbas