Lemon and garlic chicken in a terracotta brick

Roast chicken is a firm favourite - try this for a twist on a family meal.

You will need a Terracotta Brick! This is a terracotta pot with a lid. The only glazed part is the internal side of the bottom.

The theory is that the chicken is roasted inside the pot and all the juices are retained along with the flavour.

Firstly you need to soak the terracotta pot. This really does mean a soak - the non glazed areas of the pot will soak up water and this helps things stay moist when cooking. It also prevents damage to the pot.

For this recipe you will need 3 lemons, garlic, mustard and an onion.

Grate the rind off the lemons and put them in a bowl with a spoon of your preferred mustard. Add the juices of the three lemons and stir. Take two lemon halves (that you just used for the juice) and put them inside the chicken with the onion. place 3 or 4 cloves of garlic inside the chicken.

Place the chicken in a cold terracotta brick and cover with the lemon mustard sauce. Place the other lemon halves in with the chicken and more garlic cloves to taste at least five more. you can then sprinkle paprika, chilli or similar on the top of the chicken to taste.

Cover the pot with the lid.

Place in a cold oven - you want the ceramic pot to gradually increase in temperature. Turn your oven to 180 C. Cook it for the length of time that you would normally cook your chicken. When that time is up remove the pot and take the lid off. Baste the chicken with the juices and return it to the oven at 200 C - with the lid off. This is the final part of cooking and will brown the skin. Test with a gauge to ensure it is cooked. Depending on the size of the chicken this could be 25 - 40 minutes more. (it takes longer to cook than a normal roast chicken.

Then enjoy.