We are having a little early heat wave here at thye moment which I am loving.
Temperatures up tp 30C on the terrace yesterday.
It became obvious that we were going to have our First Dinner of The Summer on the Terrace so I decided to celebrate this with something suitable and put together the recipe below.

It was just about perfect and now enters the Presbytere Repetoire.
Try it for a plate full of the warm south.

Terrace Chicken (for 4)

Heat oven to 175 C

1 Large free range chicken 4 Shallots Large Sprig Thyme 2 Aubergines 2 Red Peppers 1 Lemon Olive Oil Salt and Pepper

Halve the lemon, peel the shallots stuff these with the thyme in the chicken and seal the end with a skewer.
Brown the breast of the chicken breast side down in olive oil in a pan, season thoroughly with salt and black pepper then put this, still breast down in the oven for an hour.
Cut the Aubergines in about eight slices along their length and brown the cut sides quickly in olive oil, do the same with the peppers.
When the chicken has cooked for an hour turn it breast side up and tuck the pieces of aubergine and pepper around it in the roasting tin, season these also.
After another half hour take the chicken out and put it somewhere to keep warm with the aubergine and pepper.
Shake the shallot and lemon onto the roasting tin, squeeze the lemon and discard the skin, mash the shallot and discard the sprig of thyme. Throw a glass of water (or wine) onto the pan and let it bubble for a few minutes.
Carve the chicken up roughly and divide on to four plates, portion out the peppers and the aubergines. Spoon over the delicious shallot and lemon juices.
You can serve this with rice but I think it is even better with a bowl of green salad and some bread to mop up the juices.