Perfect Roast Chicken
Ingriedients
• 1 x approximately 1.6kg chicken, preferably free-range, organic or higher welfare
• 2 medium onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 bulb of garlic
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon
a small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture
Method
Having learnt the things I’ve learnt about chickens over the last few years, of course I’m going to suggest that you buy free-range or organic. But if you’re a little tight for cash, the RSPCA Freedom Food chickens are very good and available in all good supermarkets.
To prepare your chicken
• Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven
• Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/gas 9
• There’s no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them
• Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled
• Pile all the veg and garlic into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil
• Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird
• Carefully prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife (if you have a microwave, you could pop the lemon in these for 40 seconds at this point as this will really bring out the flavour)
• Put the lemon inside the chicken’s cavity, with the bunch of herbs
To cook your chicken
• Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven
• Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes
• If you’re doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them – get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking
• Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning
• When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so
• Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside. Now is the time to make your gravy
To carve your chicken
• Remove any string from the chicken and take off the wings (break them up and add to your gravy for mega flavour)
• Carefully cut down between the leg and the breast
• Cut through the joint and pull the leg off
• Repeat on the other side, then cut each leg between the thigh and the drumstick so you end up with four portions of dark meat
• Place these on a serving platter
• You should now have a clear space to carve the rest of your chicken
• Angle the knife along the breastbone and carve one side off, then the other
• When you get down to the fussy bits, just use your fingers to pull all the meat off, and turn the chicken over to get all the tasty, juicy bits from underneath
• You should be left with a stripped carcass, and a platter full of lovely meat that you can serve with your piping hot gravy and gorgeous roast veg
Truly delicious way to serve a chicken!
Perfect Roast Beef
Ingriedients
• 1.5kg topside of beef
• 2 medium onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 bulb of garlic
a small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
I’ve used a joint of topside here because it is by far the most widely available roasting joint, but you can also use rib of beef.The meat has to be rested after cooking for at least half an hour and sliced really thinly for you to enjoy the tenderness. The timings below are just a guide, as they can differ depending on the type of oven you have or the size of the joint.
To prepare your beef:
• Take your beef out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven
• Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/ gas 9
• There’s no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them
• Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled
• Pile all the veg, garlic and herbs into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil
• Drizzle the beef with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the meat
• Place the beef on top of the vegetables
To cook your beef:
• Place the roasting tray in the preheated oven
• Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook for 1 hour for medium beef
• If you prefer it medium-rare, take it out 5 to 10 minutes earlier
• For well done, leave it in for another 10 to 15 minutes
• If you’re doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them – get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking
• Baste the beef halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning
• When the beef is cooked to your liking, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the beef to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so
• Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside while you make your gravy, horseradish sauce and Yorkshire puddings
A Consistently Good Gravy (Very True)
Ingridients
As well as your roasted veg and roast chicken, you’ll need:
• 1 heaped dessertspoon plain flour
• a wine glass of red wine, white wine or cider, or a good splash of port or sherry
• 1 litre vegetable, chicken or beef stock, preferably organic
Method
There are two things that make a good gravy: a vegetable trivet, which is the layer of vegetables in the bottom of your roasting tray that your meat sits on; and the juices from a roasted piece of good-quality meat.
As long as you always use a vegetable trivet and buy good-quality meat, your gravy will taste like heaven whether you use water or stock. Follow my method for making gravy and you’ll never look back.
To make your gravy
• When you come to make your gravy, your chicken will be covered and resting and you’ll have your tray of chicken juices and vegetable trivet in front of you
• Using a spoon, carefully remove 90 per cent of the hot fat from the tray by angling it away from yourself and scooping off the fatty layer that settles on top
• Put the tray back on the hob over a high heat
• Add the flour, stir it around and, holding the tray steady with a tea towel in one hand, use a potato masher to mash all the veg to a pulp – don’t worry if it’s lumpy
• You can rip the wings off the chicken and break them up into the tray to add more flavour at this point
• When everything is mixed and mashed up, add the alcohol to give a little fragrance before you add your stock (the alcohol will cook away)
• Keep it over the heat and let it boil for a few minutes
• Pour the stock into the tray, or add 1 litre of hot water
• Bring everything in the pan to the boil, scraping all the goodness from the bottom of the pan as you go
• Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until you’ve achieved the gravy consistency you’re looking for
To serve your gravy
• Get yourself a large jug, bowl or pan and put a coarse sieve over it
• Pour your gravy through the sieve, using a ladle to really push all the goodness through
• Discard any veg or meat left behind
• At this point you’ve got a really cracking gravy, and you can either serve it straight away or put it back on the heat to simmer and thicken up
• Depending on which meat I’m serving it with, I’ll add a teaspoonful of horseradish, mustard, redcurrant jelly, cranberry, mint or apple sauce – you certainly don’t have to, but I think the little edge of complementary flavour you get from doing this is brilliant
Yorshire Puddings
Ingriedients!
- 3 eggs
- 115 g plain flour
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 285 ml milk
- 12 tablespoons vegetable oil
Directions:
- Whisk the eggs, flour, salt, and milk together really well in a bowl to make your batter. Pour the batter into a jug, and let it sit for 30 minutes before you use it.
- Turn your oven up to the highest setting, and place a 12 cup muffin tray in the oven to heat up for 5 minutes.
- Place 1 tb of oil in each muffin hole, and put the tray back into the oven and heat until oil is very hot.
- Open oven door, slide the tray half out, and carefully pour the batter into the muffin holes.
- Close the door and cook for 15 minutes without opening the oven door.
- Serve immediately.
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