Chicken Crown – A Simpler Way to Roast
Roasting a whole bird to perfection can be tricky, as achieving evenly cooked breasts and legs is a challenge. A chicken crown offers a simpler solution, reducing cooking time while delivering succulent, juicy meat. Try stuffing with half a lemon and sprigs of thyme, or basting with a yoghurt-based tandoori marinade before roasting at a high heat.

Our free range, slow grown chicken crowns are ideal for a range of preparations, offering deep flavour and tender texture. If you favour the breast, cooking it on the crown is a smart choice as the bone helps retain moisture and enhances the flavour. And once roasted, you’re left with the bones for a nourishing stock.

Inspired by Chef George Ryle
"Browned in a pan with foaming butter and then roasted through the oven on a bed of wild mushrooms. Served with a side dish of little Austrian dumplings called Spätzle and a Vermouth cream sauce.

Brined overnight and then poached in stock. Add some rice, pasta or noodles plus some vegetables of your choice for a healthy and restorative broth.

For pure simplicity, roast the crown hard, smothered in butter, with fresh thyme, lemon and garlic in its cavity. Let it cool, carve off the bone and slice thinly. Then proceed to make an epic sandwich – good quality bread, a fairly aggressive aïoli, perhaps with some wild garlic chopped through it if the season is right and watercress. Hard to top that!

Don’t forget to keep the bones for bone broth. Just cover with water and bring to a gentle simmer, add peppercorns, fennel seeds, an onion, a carrot and a couple of fresh bay leaves."