Four meals, one chicken

Is there anything more satisfying than a Sunday roast? I love cooking a chicken, and then having chicken based meals for the rest of the week. I would urge you to always buy the biggest and best quality bit of meat you can afford, and you’ll taste the difference (and get lots out of it). And the chicken won’t have had a miserable existence before cooking.

I know cooking a chicken is hardly rocket science; I reckon it's the other bits that make it!

This blog will focus on the initial roast… but I’ll list the probable other meals at the end with brief instructions! The trick to eking it out is loads of veg; and good veg, not some over boiled carrots and broccoli. Get some nice stuff in season (I’m quite excited it’s asparagus season again) and put a little bit of effort in, and you won’t eat quite as much meat! You could always makeYorkshire puddings if you really want to stretch it further. If you add lots and lots of cheaper bits to your roast, you won't feel short changed.

Of course the real key is gravy… always gravy.

For the chicken:

I get all my timings for roasts from Delia. It’s about 20 minutes for every 450g and then another 20 minutes on top of that. It’ll need about half an hours resting time too (covered with tin foil or something), but that’s your gravy making time.

Cover it with butter, and stuff some on the breast under the skin. Shove a halved lemon inside the cavity, and season the whole thing with salt and pepper. Cook as Delia tells you: (I tend not to bother with the bacon she mentions)

http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/meat/roasting-times.html

 

 While that’s doing its thing you can make a start on your exciting veg. We’ve got some Jersey new potatoes, which I parboiled, then squashed slightly, before tossing them with chopped rosemary, garlic and olive oil, seasoned and shoving them in the oven for half an hour.

 For asparagus, break any woody end bits off, and then steam for a few minutes. It doesn’t need much more, but if you’re so inclined you can then chuck them in a hot pan with some butter and lemon juice. In an attempt not to make every vegetable incredibly unhealthy, I opted not to do that with this one! Steamed. Touch of lemon juice. That’s it.

My carrots, however, are another story. I made glazed carrots, which I have described in a previous post, but will copy and paste in anyway: Chop up the carrots in big slices, put a little drop of water in, a knob of butter and a teaspoonful of sugar. Boil until the water all but disappears and you’re left with a lovely glaze.

 How do you know the chickens done? Again I use Delia’s hints for this one: stick a skewer in and see if the juices run clear. Tip it backwards, and see if the juices that run out of the cavity are clear. Pull the legs away from the chicken a bit, of they give quite easily it’s good to go. Put it on a plate to rest, get your potatoes in the oven.  

Gravy:

Pour away most of the fat from the pan, and then put it on the hob over a medium heat. Add a spoonful of cornflour or flour and stir it in to the remaining fat and juices. Then whack up the heat and pour in a glass of white wine, mixing all the time. Make sure to scrape up any sticky bits of the bottom of the pan.  Add half a pint of stock or water (depending on your preference) and keep stirring, then let it reduce down. Taste and season. If you had thyme it would be nice to add some, I put in a little dried parsley (as my parsley hasn’t really grown yet…)

 While it’s reducing get your carrots on, and right at the last minute the asparagus.

And serve!A leg each with all the extras did us.

Once you’ve had your roast and it’s cooled, take every last little scrap of meat off the bones. All of it, you’ll be amazed how much there is. The bones will make a brilliant stock to make the best risotto or soup you’ve ever had. I’m not making that today, so will shove them in the freezer until I get round to it. (Maybe tomorrow, might write about it then)

Other meals (our menu for much of the week):

- Thai chicken and vegetable curry.

I have made my own curry paste before, but not for ages.  I like to add a bit more oomph to a shop bought paste by frying some garlic, chilli and ginger first. (Blitz it up in a little hand-held food processor: one of the best cookery inventions ever) Add to the wok a LOAD of veg; carrots, mushrooms, peppers, green beans and broccoli will be going into ours. Add two tablespoons of curry paste, let that fry off with the veg, then add a tin of coconut milk. Add some chopped up chicken, two dessert spoonfuls of Thai fish sauce (or to taste) and the juice of half a lime. Loads of fresh coriander. Happy days…

- Midweek mini-roast

Awesome. As long as you’ve got enough gravy to last two nights this feels like a proper treat on a dull Wednesday.  Just heat up a bit of chicken in the gravy to keep it moist. We’ll be having it with sweet potato mash for a change, and some probably slightly less exciting veggies, but it is midweek.

- Stir fry

Chilli, garlic and ginger, blitzed up.  Fried with some cumin, ground coriander and paprika (or whatever you’ve got in) and then loads of veg. Add a bit of chicken, lots of soy sauce and then mix in some cooked egg noodles. Add a bit of sesame oil after it’s cooked and you're done. Add more soy to taste.

I’d say that’s not bad going for a seven quid bird! Happy bank holiday one and all, I'm off to the pub.