Serves 4

Ingredients:

• Whole Chicken (I used a No14 for this recipe, about 1.4kg) 
• Hammerhead Lively Lemon Pepper Salt (two tablespoons or so)
• One Lemon
• One Onion (Roughly sliced)
• One Carrot (roughly sliced)
• Two stalks of celery (roughly sliced)
• Two cloves of Garlic
• Arrowroot, tomato paste, sprig of rosemary (for gravy, optional)

Method:

1. Place sliced vegetables and crushed whole cloves of garlic into the slow cooker.
2. Wash the whole chicken in cold water inside and out and pat dry.
3. Rub the Hammerhead Lively Lemon Pepper all over the entire chicken, inside too.
4. Halve the lemon and keep half to the side. Quarter the other half and stuff inside the chicken.
5. Tie the chicken legs together (optional). Place Chicken on-top of the vegetables, squeeze the reserved half lemon. Put the squeezed lemon half next to the chicken in the slow cooker.
6. Cook on high for about four hours or low for around six. (Chicken should be at least 75°c.)
7. Carefully lift chicken and place on an oven tray and grill under a medium heat to colour up.
8. Cover chicken and allow to rest for ten to fifteen minutes before carving and serving with Smokey Roast Potatoes, roasted kumara and your favourite choice of vegetables.
9. To make gravy, strain juices from the slow cooker. Warm in a small pan/pot. Once simmering add a teaspoon of tomato paste/puree, a sprig of fresh rosemary (or ½ teaspoon dried) and thicken with a little arrowroot or cornflour (mixed with a splash of cold water). Drizzle a little over your meal.

Note: Cooking time may vary between slow cookers and larger birds. Always be sure to temperature check if you have a probe or ensure juices run clear when chicken is skewered.