Comfort Food Part 2: Roast Chicken - Not just a Sunday treat

Roast Chicken with Roast Potaoes, Gravy and all the trimmings define Sunday afternoon comfort for me. Sigh! It is such a pleasure and a joy to invite your nearest and dearest for a juicy Chicken crispy golden from the oven. This is my Herb, Lemon and Garlic roasted Chicken.

If you cannot get hold of a good organic whole chicken [say for budget issues] then just roast Chicken legs [drums/thighs]. You need a good oven and a dish/ oven tray that will hold your chicken on a rack.



Mmmmm Chicken!



Roasted drumsticks

Ingredients:
Good quality chicken - washed, drained and patted dry; At room temperature.
Salt and Black pepper
Whole garlic cloves - leave skin on [1 bulb]
1 x Onion - skin on - quartered
2 x Carrots - washed but skin on and cut into chunks
2 x sticks of celery - washed and roughly chopped
Glass of white wine/ Just some hot water from the kettle/ Stock
1/2 a lemon
Rosemary
Thyme
Olive Oil/Canola oil

• Layer the Veg on the bottom of your dish/tray [which can be lined with foil if necessary] - this is to give flavour to the gravy
• Season the chicken well and sit on the bed of veg or on a rack that fits snuggly on the tray [if you have it]
• Scatter the garlic cloves around [and inside the cavity if using a whole bird]
• Squeeze half the lemon over the chicken and add the lemon half amongst the veg [or inside the cavity is using whole bird]
• Tear the rosemary and thyme over the chicken [and inside the cavity]
• Drizzle over a tablespoon of oil no more [the skin will release lots of fat] - this is just to help it to get going
• Add the wine/stock or water to the base and around the veg - helps steam the chicken and give some body to the all important lip smacking gravy
• Tightly seal the dish with foil
• Preheat the Oven to 200 degrees [fan]
• Pop the tray in and turn down the heat to 180 degrees
• After 30min take the foil off
• Allow to continue roasting for 1 hour [ turn and baste half way through]
• Allow to rest with oven door open for 30min while you prep the gravy and other veg [see below]

I love my peas and there is nothing easier than boiling up some frozen peas until just done - drain and serve with a grind of back pepper. Frozen peas tend to retain their Vitamin C better than freshly picked and podded. You can always do bacon and peas by just crisping up some bacon bits and adding to the cooked peas.

You can also serve roast carrots in honey and cumin alongside the chicken for a great side dish as well as roasted parsnips, beetroot or pumpkin like butternut squash.

For the gravy, I tend to pour all the juices from the tray [carefully collecting all the roasted garlic to add to the resting chicken] through a colander and then allow to cool slightly before siphoning off the fat. If the veg have all turned very soft I crush it with a spoon against the sieve to get some of it pureed into the gravy which thickens it slighlty. What you end up with from the tray is just gold and contains all the flavour. Pop this magic juice into a pan with a pint of stock, some finely chopped shallots or onions, a glass of white wine [optional]and 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard. I then rapidly reduce this liquid nectar to a third before checking for seasoning and adjusting. Strain and serve in a gravy boat. It will be a thin gravy but extremely rich in flavour.

If you are doing Roast potatoes [which you should do to avoid dissapointment - Even if I don't eat many of them, I feel cheated myself, if I don't serve crispy roasties] then they should be done as follows:

• Peel Potatoes and cut into large chunks
• Place in cold water and bring to the boil and then boil for 5 - 10 min so it is just cooked but not turned to mush
• Drain and allow to sit and dry for 5 min at least
• Meanwhile pop an oven tray with a tablespoon of oil into the oven to heat up
• Shake the colander to fluff up the potatoes
• Take the tray out - throw in some rosemary and then the potatoes on top
• Season with salt
• Pop tray into the oven [alongside chicken which would be at 180 degrees] and ignore for at least 45 min before turning the potatoes over
• Leave in the oven for another 45 min until crispy and golden
• Take out and serve immediately

This need not just be a Sunday treat - If you have everything prepared in advance and ready to go, all you need to do [when you get in on a weekday] is turn the oven on. Then wait for every thing to roast and the smell of rosemary and garlic will permiate your very soul. I actually prefer this roast on a Monday as then it is even more of a treat! So on a sunday night before bed I get everything prepared {chicken on bed of veg with garlic and herbs and lemon ; Potatoes par boiled} and leave in a cool place. Then when I get in, it is a matter of heating the oven and getting things in there for roasting while I wind down from the day. AWESOME.

OPTIONS : None - Just do it. Eat it. Rub your belly and to hell with the nutrition reasons. Just think YUM.