Roast Chicken

You will Need

roasting tin  
1 chicken
butter
optional
ingredients		 fat - to baste
herbs
garlic
lemon

Method

The chicken needs to be unwrapped and patted down with a paper towel.  The inside cavities (one inside the bones, the other inside the neck) should be checked for packets of giblets (cooked plastic bags don’t taste great).

Place the chicken breast upwards in the roasting tin.

Chicken dries out quickly in the oven, so it is a good idea to stuff the main cavity as this helps keep it moist.  Stuffing can be put in either cavity.  If you don’t have stuffing you could use a lemon or two, cut into quarters so the flavour gets out (or even a couple of potatoes).  These would only go into the main cavity.  You can add a few sprigs of fresh herbs to the cavity for flavour if wanted. Thyme goes well with chicken.

Smear butter over the skin, particularly around the creases (e.g. where the legs and wings join the body).  For a garlicky flavour cut thin slivers from a garlic bulb and using a sharp knife slide them under the skin.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and cook for 40 minutes per kilo (and sometimes an additional 20 mins though not always necessary). Baste regularly with the juices from the bottom of the pan to keep the meat moist.

Roast Garlic

Ingredients

1 garlic bulb
olive oil, to cook

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  2. Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact.  Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.
  3. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan, muffin pans or foil.  Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.
  4. Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself.  Use a small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
  5. Eat as is, or mash with a fork and use for cooking.  Can be spread over warm French bread, mixed with sour cream for a topping for baked potatoes, or mixed in with Parmesan and pasta.

Used in pissaladiere.

Roast Summer Vegetables

Ingredients

1 garlic bulb separated into cloves and skinned
2 lemons cut into small wedges
4 tbsp olive oil
3 large red peppers deseeded and cut into chunks
3 small red onions cut into wedges
4 large courgettes cut into wedges
200 g packet feta cheese crumbled into chunks
400 g can chickpeas drained
crusty bread to serve

Method

  1. Toss the whole cloves, peppers, onions and courgettes into the olive oil, and put into a roasting tray.
  2. Roast in the oven for an hour at 200℃.
  3. Add the feta, chickpeas and lemon wedges to the roasted veg and cook for 10-15 mins, to warm through in the oven.

Serve with crusty bread to soak up any juices.

Salmon Broccoli Ring

Ingredients

some onion
some red pepper
some broccoli
some cooked salmon
some Gruyère cheese
1 handful dill
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1 small jar mayonnaise
1 pack flaky pastry

Method

  1. Finely chop/grate all the vegetables and salmon into a large bowl.
  2. Add the dill and mayonnaise and stir thoroughly.
  3. Roll out the pastry thinly and cut into long thin triangles (approx. 3 cm x 20 cm).
  4. Place the pastry triangles overlapping in a circle on a pizza stone in a circle. Roll them together where they overlap.
  5. Place the mixture in a circle on the pastry and bring the points of the triangle over to make a ring.
  6. Cook in the oven for 30 mins, or until the pastry is golden.
  7. Serve hot or cold with new potatoes and a salad.