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The Roast Chicken here is really just for you to taste with the vegetables. I’m sure you all have your own version of Roast Chicken that works. I tend to do mine differently every time, sometimes I season the bird and then squeeze the juice of a lemon over it and then stuff the cavity with the lemon halves. Other times I make a straight up bread stuffing and stuff it, then on other occasions I place lots of unpeeled cloves of garlic and bay leaves inside and all around the chicken, smother the breast in butter salt and pepper and then half way through cooking I put chunks of potato all around the roasting tin. The potatoes soak up all the buttery garlicky juices, always lovely.
Its always harder to think of interesting vegetables to serve and that’s why the focus of this newsletter is on the vegetables. Glazed carrots are always popular and can be done very quickly as the meat is resting. The baked red onions take more time to cook but involve little effort. They are delicious with Lamb or Duck also and the celeriac mash is fantastic with fish too. You can serve the celeriac mash on its own or you can mash it together with potatoes, for a roast dinner I usually serve it on its own.
A Simple Stuffing for Roast Chicken
The addition of chorizo to this stuffing is something I have been doing for the past few months, it brings an extra dimension to the stuffing and gently flavours the chicken too. For chicken sandwiches late at night or the next day this stuffing is divine!!
1 small onion finely chopped
1 ½oz/40g butter
4oz/125g bread crumbs
1tblsp fresh sage or 1 ½ tsp mixed dried herbs
Salt and pepper
1 Chorizo sausage (optional)
Slice the chorizo and fry in a little oil over a medium heat, until golden, drain on kitchen paper and leave to one side.
For the bread stuffing; Melt the butter in a small saucepan and sweat the onions for about 5 minutes until soft but not browned. Add the breadcrumbs, herbs, chorizo if using, salt and pepper and cook for 2 mins, stirring. Allow to cool before stuffing the chicken.
For the Chicken;
1 x 3 ½ lb/ 2.3 kg free-range or organic chicken
salt and pepper and butter
Preheat your oven to 220°C
Stuff your chicken with the bread stuffing and season salt and pepper, put small knobs of butter all over the breast, legs and thighs and wings. Place in you pre-heated oven for 20 minutes at the high heat then reduce the heat to 180°C and roast for 1 ½ hours, basting occasionally. The timings for roast chicken are 20 minutes per 1lb/450g and 20 minutes extra. In order to check whether or not your chicken is cooked, get a skewer and pierce the thickest part of the thigh, if the juices run clear your chicken is cooked. Allow to rest in warm place for 15 minutes before carving.
Roasted Red Onions with Balsamic Vinegar
Serves 6
6 medium sized red onions
A thin slice of butter
1 tblsp olive oil
A few spring of rosemary
Salt and pepper
5 tblsp balsamic vinegar
Pre-heat oven to 140°C
Peel and top and tail the onions. Heat the butter and oil together in a frying pan. Add the onions to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes until golden. Add the rosemary and season with salt and pepper. Remove the onions and rosemary to an oven proof dish and arrange them right side up. Deglaze the pan by adding the balsamic vinegar and scraping any flavoursome bits that have stuck to the pan, pour over the onions, cover with tin-foil and cook in your pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes remove the foil and continue cooking for 1 ¼ hours. Serve with the juices spooned over the onions.
Note; As you will usually be making these onions to go with a roast that is cooking at 180°C you can leave the tinfoil on for the first hour and then remove it for the last 30 minutes of cooking. Keep an eye on it though as you don’t want your balsamic vinegar to evaporate completely. If the vinegar does start to evaporate add a little water to the dish and stir it into the vinegar.
Glazed Carrots
1lb/450g carrots, washed, peeled and sliced
A thin slice of butter
4 fl oz/100ml water
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
Put the carrots into a saucepan with the butter, water, salt and sugar and bring to the boil. Cover the saucepan with a lid and reduce the heat, simmer until the carrots are tender. The water should be absorbed by the carrots but if not remove the lid, increase the heat and cook until the water has evaporated. You do need to keep a close eye on the pot as the water will cook off very quickly. Stir the carrots so that they are well coated in the butter before serving.
Celeriac Mash
1 large celeriac, peeled and diced
1 onion, finely chopped
A thin slice of butter
Salt and pepper
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, add the celeriac to the pot and cook until tender about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan and sweat the onion until translucent but not coloured. This will take about 5 – 7 minutes.
When the celeriac is cooked drain the water and put the pot back on a low heat for a minute so that any excess water evaporates. Now add the onion to the pot together with some salt and pepper and mash well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Sometimes I add a little more butter to the mash for a richer taste.
© The Cook Club 2008
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