Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. 
2. Mix the butter with the cinnamon, thyme  grated ginger, salt and minced garlic.
3. Massage the chicken all over with this paste, including under the breast skin and along the thighs. 
4. Put the chicken on a rack in a roasting tray. Put the bay leaf and ginger in the cavity. 
5. Put the tray in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes. 
6. Meanwhile, core the apples and cut them into wedges. Cut the onions into 4 wedges each.
7. After 20 minutes of baking, take the tray out of the oven and put the apple and onion wedges around the chicken. Baste the chicken with the cooking jus. Scatter the remaining spiced butter over the apple pieces. 
8. Drizzle everything with olive oil, dust with cinnamon and ground pepper.
9. Put the tray back in the oven and set the oven temperature to 180°C. 
10. Roast for another hour or 90 minutes, until the chicken is golden, and clear jus is coming out of the thighs.
11. During roasting turn over the apple and onion pieces a couple times and baste the chicken too. 
12. Remove the chicken to a platter and keep warm.
13. Spoon the spiced apple pieces into a bowl. Use the remaining jus to make a quick a gravy. 
14. Carve the chicken and serve with the roasted apples and the jus/gravy.