Traditional Chicken Dinner
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Author: Denni Schnapp Status: published Published: Dec 20,2007 license cc-by-nc-sa tags: Cooking, Food, Chicken, Roast, Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Sunday Lunch,
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Share on TwitterFree range/organic chicken
For superior flavour. Make sure it's a slow-growing breed (this is Devonshire Red). Remove excess fat and melt it in a ramekin dish in the bottom of the oven (great for roast potatoes!)
Stuffing:
Chop 1 onion very finely. Heat up 25g butter with a dash of oil and fry gently until almost transparent (never brown!)
Finely chop a small handful of fresh sage and add to the pan just before turning off the heat. The essential oils of the sage will infuse the onion mixture.
Leave to cool while beating an egg in a bowl; add white grund pepper and salt and a good handful of very finely choped parsley.
Hollow out a semi-stale granary loaf by plucking out some of the centre, then rotating your hand with slightly-spread fingers, rubbing and scraping out the crumbs. They should not be too fine.
Mix it all together, knead into balls and drop into the chicken's cavity, pressing the stuffing up against the bones.
Roast Potatoes:
Best use a soft-boiling potato such as King Edwards. Cut into thirds or quarters and boil until almost done.
Meanwhile, heat some dripping, chicken (goose-) fat or oil in the roasting tin with flaky salt (Maldon) and cracked black pepper. Add rosemary or thyme if desired (the stuffing is quite herby already).
Drain the potatoes, leave them to steam off and roughen them by swirling in a wire sieve (careful: if they're about to fall apart they won't need roughing up).
Turn the warm potatoes in the hot fat and arrange around the edges of the tin, leaving a place for the chicken in the centre.
Lightly coat the chicken with the rest of the fat in the pan and roast the lot for 20 minutes per pound of the chicken, plus an extra half-an hour, turning the potatoes as they brown. The chicken breast can be covered with foil to keep it from burning. Add chunks of squash half an hour before the end of cooking time.
The chicken should be taken out to rest (covered, on a pre-heated dish) for at least 20 minutes. Meanwhile make the gravy and veg.
Steamed Veg:
Using a steamer gives much better flavour and retains more nutrients. Start the fennel wedges 5-10 minutes before adding the courgette slices (they should just be getting soft), and give the courgette about 7 minutes.
Gravy:
A home-made stock is essential (it's not called 'fond de cuisine' for nothing). I make the stock from the remains of the chicken carcass and freeze it between roast dinners.
After transferring the chicken to its resting place, pour off the fat and deglaze the pan with a good splash of white wine or cider. Add this to ca. 300 ml gently simmering stock and skim of the fat and any foam that will form.
Thicken with cornstarch, mixed with water or wine to pouring consistency. (Rule of thumb applies, usually about 2 tbsp).
