I was making lunch today, which involved roasting, chicken, butter and cheese. It ended up looking nothing like the pictures in the recipe book I was following. Given the nature of the ingredients involved, I think the photos may have had a little artistic licence. For example, how does a mixture of cheese, butter and tomato purée retain it's solid state at 200 degrees centigrade to then to reveal a nice layer between the breast of the chicken and the skin as it is carved? But we are all wiser after the event :)
In my attempt the mix was mostly at the bottom of the roasting pan. In trying to stop it leaving the chicken it also ended spread on top of the cooker. I realised that the mixture would not stay where the picture said it would, so I turned the chicken over hoping the bowl shape would at least try and keep the liquid roughly in the right place. But rather than the mix staying near the chicken, the superheated butter and cheese exited the chicken in a hurry to cover the top of the cooker and the tiles on the wall.
There were also roast vegetables along with the chicken. They were supposed to sit in the bottom of the roasting pan and roast away, but with the amount of butter, cheese oil and some olive oil the recipe called for, there was far too much oil of any kind for roasting. It was more like deep frying but in an oven. The quantity of vegetables did allow for the chicken to be wedged up so that the breast should have been the lowest point of the chicken and so some of the mixture may have remained, but I think by this time, that was more in hope.
Everything cooked fine though and when it came to lunch instead of nice succulent chicken breast with a coating of butter, cheese & tomato between the meat and skin, nicely roasted vegetables, I had a chicken that was kind of orange from the tomato colouring and veg covered in oil and cheese!
But it tasted good!
And the capsicum? Well, they needed to be chopped for roasting and as I cut the top off and looked inside to remove the seeds and core, I was struck by just how awesome the internal structure was! I only had a phone in my pocket, but I think it was enough to capture some of the detail. Sometimes nature is a wonderful thing! :)