Suzie's Roast Chicken Dinner
Ingredients:
Roast Chicken
1 large whole chicken
3 Tbsp of garlic steak seasoning
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary from garden or dried rosemary
Small bunch of chive leaves
8 rashers of smoked bacon or pancetta – finely sliced
6 tbsp olive oil (3 tbsp oil for marinade)
1 medium onion, cut in half
Salt and freshly ground
Black pepper
Gorgeous Gravy
2 large carrot, chopped into large chunks
2 large celery stick chopped into
large chunks
1 large onion chopped into large chunks
4 large garlic cloves crushed
15 black peppercorns
1 leek
2 bay leaves (the wing tips, tail and leg tips from the chicken)
200g smoked bacon lardons
1 chicken stock cube crumbled
1 tbsp of butter
1 large onion finely sliced
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp cornflour (add 2 tbsp of water to make a paste) – only add paste if you want to thicken gravy further
Salt and pepper to season
Roast Vegetables
Roasties
1.5kg Maris Piper potatoes peeled and cut to even size for roasties
Salt 1 tsp baking soda
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to season
Vegetables
6 Medium
Carrots cut lengthways (scrubbed and trimmed)
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
6 baby beetroot scrubbed well and trimmed
1 whole butternut squash – roasted with the chicken (peeled, deseeded and cubed)
3 sprigs of rosemary
Salt and pepper
Method
1. Preheat oven 180.C fan
2. Begin with the gravy – remove the tips of the legs, tail and wing tips from the chicken, put the 200g of bacon lardons into a stock pot. Add lardons, 2 large carrots, 1 large brown onion chopped, 4 large garlic cloves smashed, 2 large celery sticks, 15 peppercorns, large pinch of salt and a chicken stock cube, top up with water and bring to boil and then simmer for at least 1 hour to get good stock for the gravy.
3. Parboil the potatoes in 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp of baking soda from cold water to boiling and until the edges get soft. Drain and leave in colander till cooled – about 15 mins; or can place in fridge to cool quicker. Then shake the colander to fluff up the edges.
4. Further prepare chicken by slicing into each drumstick twice and then in the under thigh. Prepare the rub for the chicken of - rosemary, garlic steak seasoning and chives and bacon pieces - all chopped up mixed with pepper and olive oil. Place
these under the skin of the breast of the chicken and in the cuts you have just made to the drumsticks and thighs. Any leftover rub you can put in cavity along with the halved onion. Make sure everything is seasoned very well (inside and out) and chicken is rubbed well with oil.
5. Put into middle shelf. Cook breast side down (upside down) for 10 min and then flip right side up. The chicken will be ready after another 50/60min. Add the butternut squash cubes into the tray around the chicken and toss in the juices and pull off the leaves of the rosemary onto the butternut squash.
6. Then put the potatoes into the tray and pour about 2 tbsp of oil and toss. Roast in oven for about 40 min. Toss about 20 mins.
7. (Beetroot goes into the oven at the same time as carrots). Roast the beetroot on a tray – drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper
– after about 40/45min they will be cooked. Using gloves rub the skin to remove. Then slice each one in half.
8. Put the carrots into a large piece of baking parchment, put about 1 tsp of oil, 1 tsp of balsamic, rosemary, and salt and pepper in the baking parchment and toss the carrots in it. Then fold up the parchment so the carrots are enclosed. This will take about 40 min.
9. Now put the beetroot and carrots together and return to the oven for about 10 min so they caramelise together, you can add a little bit more balsamic now to make the carrots and beetroot both sticky.
10. At about the 60/75 min mark everything is due to be lifted out of the oven (depends on the size of your chicken) – chicken, vegetables and potatoes. Point a skewer into the thigh of the chicken and juices should run clear.
11. Fry off onion in butter till translucent, then add little bit of plain flour, then start thinning out with the stock, season while tasting it. If too thin, thicken with cornflour paste. Add in any leftover juices from the roasted chicken into the gravy to give extra depth. Strain and put in gravy jug
