A Roast Chicken

The other evening I fancied Roast Chicken, for one!

So here is a full step by step.

Remember this is for ONE



Potatoes

Peel and steam a two or three potatoes until fully cooked, they don’t break up when steamed, and steam times are one and a half boil time.

So that’s 20 mins + 10 mins = 30mins from water boiling.

Note boil water while peeling cutting and rinsing.

Keep cooking water.

Remove potatoes, in the steamer insert, cover with tea towel until dry.

Find just right size tin, a “Frey Bentos pie” (must ask Shirley which pastry they use?) tin does just for me for this quantity, try to find the tin after peeling and cutting and before any cooking then you can always add an extra to fit.

Add one cm to half inch fat I use dripping but it’s only once a month.



Chicken

Put

half a lemon (wax free)

Half an onion

Pinch dried sage

Inside 1 Kg chicken, Brought to room temperature.

Note roasting time 75 mins at 180C so 15mins each breast up, left side, right side, back up, finally breast up again. Plus 15 mins extra to rest.



Veggies are frozen, I prefer frozen as then have I have zero wastage.

I keep cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, peas, special mixed, in the main.

Steam and keep water again.



Yorkshire pud for one

one egg, quarter cup each plain flour and semi skimmed milk.

I have found the standard egg is one quarter cup in volume. So 2 eggs = half cup, 4 eggs = full cup.

Sometimes I use part milk and part, beer / stock/ water, up to the total liquid volume.

A sprinkle of cheese as the Yorkshires go into the oven are often appreciated, try when doing individuals half and half, and gauge response.

Whisk milk and egg together, sieve and whisk flour in stages too much at once goes lumpy. whisk until frothy.

Or sieve flour into bowl and add egg/s and beat well then add rest of liquid in steps.

Leave as long as possible, overnight is not too long, in the, refrigerator, re whisk from time to time i.e. leave the whisk in to save washing up.

Another FB tin needed no fat yet.

When adding batter to fat do on the stove top to keep fat very hot.



Right that’s the prep and notes done:



Times for a 5:00 sit down



2:30 oven on, peel and leave cut pots under water.

Make up Yorkshire batter.



3:00 boil kettle put pots in steamer, add boiling water bring back to boil cover and start 30min timer.



3:15 chicken in, potato tin in, yorky tin in.



3:30 turn chicken check pots.



3:40 or Ping dry off pots



3:45 Shake to roughen the edges. Add to hot fat baste. Turn chicken.



4:00 turn chicken, baste pots,



4:15 last turn chicken, strain 3mm to eighth inch fat into yorky tin on stove top,remove all possible fat from pots replace pots in oven, heat yorky fat very hot pour yorky batter into tin and straight into oven.



START 15 MINUTE TIMER

Why? Because if you open the door earlier the puddings will collapse.



Ping quickly remove chicken, close do not slam oven.



Cover chicken and rest.



Panic is now over restart timer



Reheat veg water add veggies of desire, leave to steam



Ping turn off oven and crack open door. Too allow slow cool down, that darn yorky again.



Remove steamer insert drain chicken juices into veggie water. Bring to hard fast boil taste think about seasoning but do not add, yet a splash of alcohol something is okay.



Cut chicken in half with shears, plate one half, plate veggies, plate pots, plate yorky.



Taste gravy again, pour into a gravy separator (I use this one), pour over or round, according to your foible, the meal and add a twist of sea/rock salt, twist of pepper, twist of chilli flakes for a little kick, enjoy.

Thoughts etc

Please try without adding anything else to the gravy you will be surprised how fresh it tastes.

I told you to taste again and again to understand this isn’t just “Gravy”.

I do not use salt in cooking; I find that the twists gives sudden bursts of flavour intermittently throughout the meal, rather than a overall background.

If you add granules you have wasted the stock, boil a kettle and use a jug if you must.

And I find Bisto, tastes like Oxo, like Supermarket own, false.

Other times the veggie water will always help these pretenders.

What ever I cook I keep the real and pretend apart.

Use slaked corn flour to thicken, gravy browning to darken, if you must, as these add no taste.

When steaming use your eagle eye and use as little water as you can.

Bones simmered, after removing the lemon, for a little stock, if you didn’t interfere with the gravy yesterday add this as well.

Boiled bones go cloudy, boil to reduce after straining, don’t be greedy try and recover too much from the bones as the result is horrid.

To prove to yourself keep just the juices from the roast and compare to an over cooked carcase.

Definitely a case of less is more.

Then a nice soup for another day or a booster for something else.





The Next Day?

Fresh rolls needed for roast chicken rolls, must use butter.

With a little side salad, don’t hide the chicken.

Definitely a cure for back to work Monday!

Although I have done lunch and supper on a piggy day. Pass the wine Hic, oops.

This will be posted on both Shirley and my blogs, as it fits a common theme.

And knowing Shirley she will tell me how I could have fed the five thousand for a fortnight on these quantities.

Les