Christmas Beer Can Chicken & Cranberry Apple Chutney

The Mrs and i spent Christmas over in Belfast this year but had our own mini Christmas when we got home.

Having had 2 roast dinners in 3 days the thought of another with all the trimmings wasn't all that appealing but i had been wanting to do another beer can chicken for a while, mainly for the comedy value of seeing a raw chicken sat almost human-like (bar the beer can up it's arse) on my kitchen counter!

I'd seen the original in a Jamie Oliver book and an ex American housemate (ex housemate, he's still American) used to rave about cooking chicken this way on the barbecue.

This time as it was Christmas i decided to change the spices for something a little more festive and accompany the succulent chicken with a cranberry and apple chutney and some cheese, to make some lovely Christmassy sandwiches... and lovely they were! 

Ingredients - 

 

1 Chicken (Approx 1.5kg)
1 Can of Lager (440ml) 

Flat Tbsp freshly ground Black Pepper
2 flat Tbsp Dried Rosemary
Flat Tbsp Dried Thyme

Heaped Tsp Dried Basil

Heaped Tsp Garlic Salt
3 Tbsp of Olive Oil

And for the chutney - 

500g Cooking Apples, peeled and diced

250g Eating Apples, peeled and chopped into larger chunks

250g Onions, chopped

30g Fresh Root Ginger, finely diced

Flat Tsp Peppercorns

250g Granulated Sugar

130ml Cider Vinegar

250g Cranberries

For the Chicken - 

• Preheat your oven to 200C
• Put the black pepper, rosemary, thyme, basil and garlic salt into a pestle and mortar and grind until combined, add the olive oil and mix together to form a paste. Rub this over all the chicken both inside and out.
• Open the beer and drink about half then lower the chicken cavity over the top of the can, the chicken should stand quite freely like this. Place on a baking tray in the oven and cook for approx 75 mins, the juices should run clear, the skin should be golden and crispy and the meat will fall off the bone. If this isn't the case give it another 10-15 mins or until done.

 For the Chutney - 

• Throw everything apart from the cranberries into a large saucepan and cook on a medium heat, stirring regularly until the sugar is disolved, then simmer uncovered until the fruit is soft and the sauce has thickened, approx 45 mins.
• Add the cranberries and continue to simmer until they have softened and some have burst to give the chutney a reddish colour, approx 20 mins.
• Ingredients will make 1 litre of chutney, store in sterilised jars for a few months, or eat straight away!  

I bought some nice crusty bread and made generously filled sandwiches with the chicken, chutney and some cheese (brie would be nice)