Chicken wrapped in dough.

Foto!
How to Wrap a Whole Chicken in Pastry. Video!
Recipe-1.

1 whole organic chicken
2 lemons
2 handfuls of fresh oregano
1 handful of fresh thyme
8 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
1kg of flour
Okay, what to do:



1. Put your flour in a bowl and slowly mix in 500ml of water, creating a dough that is elastic and not too sticky. Cover and set aside.

2. Remove the zest from the lemons. In a pestle and mortar (or a deep bowl and something heavy!) bash up the oregano, thyme, lemon zest, garlic and some olive oil. Add the oil as necessary to create a paste. Season well with salt and pepper.

3. Rub the entire chicken inside and out with the marinade. Slice the lemons and stuff inside the bird.

4. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius. Get your dough and roll out, judging it so the dough will cover the chicken. Fold up the edges and mold the dough around the chicken to create a parcel thingy. MAKE SURE IT IS AIRTIGHT. Leave for 5 minutes and then place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours and 15 minutes. This might seem long but it won't dry out and it would be a bummer if you took the bird to the table, cracked open the crust and the chicken was undercooked. Can anyone say anti-climax?

5. Remove, and allow to rest for 15 minutes. The pastry will have hardened up. Do not eat the pastry. It will smell amazing but control yourself. You're not a wild animal so get a grip.

6. To serve, take the entire pastry on a wooden board to the table. Crack it open. Glory.
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Note
Chicken wrapped in dough and then baked.Actually you can also eat the bread as it gets baked fully together with the chicken.
The dough was made with water and cumin seeds.
First he made a sort of mint sauce and rubbed it all over and inside the chicken.
Then he put a whole lemon in boiling water and took it out after about 50 secs and stuffed the hot lemon in the cavity of the chicken.
That done the chicken was wrapped in bread dough set to bake.
You have to wrap the chicken in dough like an envelope so that no chicken shows.
I have baked this twice and everyone loved it.
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Recipe-2.
2 lb (7-ish cups) of flour
2 cups (plus or minus) water

fresh sage
fresh thyme (I had to use dried as there was no fresh available)
a lemon
olive oil
garlic (about 6 cloves)

A tip that Jamie had on the episode was that you should put the lemon into boiling water for ten or so minutes, that allows it to be at temperature and reduce cooking time.
When you have the water boiling, you can dip the sage into there and that will make it easy to bash around in a mortal-and-pestle (if you don't have that, you can make your own suitable substitute from a metal bowl and something to crush other things with; I used a "battering-ram" style thing that is used for pushing tomatoes into a squeezo machine (which is similar to a grinder, but specifically for tomatoes)).

So, you bash the sage, thyme, and garlic, then add the olive oil along with salt (kosher or sea) and ground pepper.
Mix that together and rub that on and inside the chicken and let it rest while you make the dough.
Also, poke the lemon with a knife and insert it in the chicken.
A tip - you should try to make sure that you get a smaller lemon so that it fits in the chicken on its own; otherwise you end up with a situation where some of the meat touches the lemon's skin and becomes a touch too lemony.

With the flour and water, mix that together; you can add in some herbs if you wish, but the intention is to not eat the dough.
After mixing, roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick (or 1 cm).
Wrap the chicken with the dough - another tip, put the bottom of the chicken onto the dough and place your "seams" on the top, it *will* be easier to open after it's baked.

Also, Jamie did this idea of baking the chicken on some newspapers; you can do it, but since you're baking at 425F, the paper *will* singe and you might be able to smell it (remembering that the flashpoint for paper is 451F). So anyway, bake the chicken and dough (and optional newspaper) at 425F (~220C) for about 2 hours. Serve with your choice of vegetables; I opted for baked potatoes and broccoli.
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Recipe-2.
Jamie's recipe for Flour and Water Crust Chicken from his book "Happy Days with the Naked Chef".

This is a great dish to serve up to friends - they'll wonder if you've gone a bit mad when you produce what looks like a huge lump of pastry and put it in the middle of the table!  It's a great way to cook chicken - the meat steams inside the pastry crust and becomes incredibly tender.  I've used nice small spring chickens, or poussins, in this recipe but it's just as easy to use one 2kg/4.5lb bird and roast it for 2 hours instead.  ps. you don't eat the pastry!

905gr/2lb plain flour
2 fat lemons
2 handfuls of fresh sage leaves, picked
1 handful of fresh thyme leaves, picked
8 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 spring chickens

Put your flour into a large bowl, and mix in around 500ml/18fl oz of water, bit by bit, until you have a dough that is pliable and elastic and not too sticky.  Cover and put to one side while you prepare the chickens.

Using a peeler, remove the peel from 1 of the lemons and bash up with the sage, thyme and garlic, in a pestle and mortar, or use a metal bowl and a rolling pin.  Add your olive oil and plenty of seasoning.  This flavourful marinade is great with just about all kinds of meat.  Roll up your sleeves and rub the marinade all over the chickens as well as inside the cavity.  Slice the remaining lemon and stick a slice or two inside the cavity of each chicken.

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas7.

Get your dough mix, divide it into 4 pieces, and roll each one out to about 0.5cm/1/4inch thick.  Now mould a piece of dough around each of the chickens so that you have 4 airtight parcels.  Leave for 5 minutes, then bake in the preheated oven for an hour.  The crust will harden during cooking, steaming and protecting the chicken while keeping all the lovely juices inside which will give you a fantastic homemade gravy.

Let the chickens rest for 15 minutes after baking, then bring them to the table and for a bit of drama, crack open each crust in front of your guests.  You'll unleash a wicked aroma, steam, the lot, so waft it around a bit.  Very impressive stuff.  Serve simply with some potatoes and greens.