The Perfect Roast Chicken!

I love a good roast dinner, but for me it always has to be chicken as I don’t really eat beef, lamb or pork. And I’m not too keen on game either. So it has to be chicken every time (I’ll make an exception at Christmas and have turkey), but I’m not complaining as I have this little recipe, which produces the most succulent, juicy and flavoursome chicken you could dream of. It’s a pretty standard recipe really but I just add some extra touches that I think really make the difference between an average roast chicken, and mine 🙂

I always, always, ALWAYS make my own stuffing too. It is so much nicer than shop bought stuff, and SO worth that little extra effort.

I don’t restrict this to a Sunday either; I’m not sure where that rule came from but you can have it any day of the week you like! I made this yesterday (Thursday), yes a week night. It actually isn’t as much work as you think it is; it’s basically seasoning a chicken and putting it in the oven, then adding veg half way through. It’s only the cooking time that makes it lengthy, but you can be relaxing with a book during that while the oven does the work! So no excuses – it’s a roast night every night of the week!!

Ingredients:

• 1kg free range chicken (or whatever size you like, adjust cooking time accordingly)
• 1 large onion
• 1 large parsnip
• 2 large potatoes
• 1 lemon
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Plenty of olive oil
• 1 bulb garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
• Greens of your choice (I used mange tout and broccolini)
• Chicken gravy granules (it is a weeknight, but of course make your own if you can be bothered!)

For the stuffing:

• 4-5 slices wholemeal bread, torn up and blended into breadcrumbs
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh sage (or dried)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 50g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees C (180 fan).

Start by making the stuffing. Melt the butter and oil in a saucepan and add the onion, cook until the onion is soft and fragrant, but not coloured. (If you are using dried sage, add this while you are cooking the onions to release the flavours).

Transfer the buttery soft onions to a bowl and add the breadcrumbs, fresh sage and as much of the egg you need for it to hold itself together (I used about half). Mix thoroughly and stick it all together using your hands.

Then, rub the chicken inside and out with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Be generous! Prick the lemon several times with a sharp knife and put in the microwave for 1 minute. Place the garlic cloves, a handful of thyme and then the hot lemon inside the chicken’s cavity.

Cut off a flat piece of the other onion (the middle section with the sides cut off works well) and place it on a well oiled baking tray, sit the chicken on top. Push the stuffing underneath the chicken around the onion it’s sitting on so that the chicken is surrounded by stuffing and a little is also underneath it.

Place the chicken into the middle of the oven with nothing above it.

Now prep your veg. Chop the potatoes into golf ball sized pieces and boil in salted water for 12 mins. While that’s doing, chop the parsnip and the rest of the onion too. When the potatoes are done, drain and mix with rosemary, salt and pepper and a little olive oil, then shake them around a bit to make the edges fluffy.

Once the chicken is 45 mins from being cooked, add the potatoes, onion and parsnip to the tray. Return to the oven for 25 min. Remove again and turn the veg and baste the chicken. Return the tray back again.

Once the full cooking time is over, remove the tray and let the chicken rest for 15 mins. Meanwhile boil your greens and make your gravy.

Finally, serve everything together on plates, and enjoy!

 

 

 

Easy Baked Salmon with Honey, Garlic and Rosemary

So I heavily based this on Tasty‘s recipe but switched up the veggies and the herbs. I actually used to cook baked fish all the time, mostly whole sea bass or sea bream back when I was in the UK where it seemed much easier to get hold of a whole fish. In Singapore I think you must have to go to some sort of fish market or something, I don’t know, but I’m used to supermarket shopping where you can get everything you need under one roof! In fact even better if it’s your own roof and your sitting at your laptop ordering online, but in Singapore there is actually a lot less choice when you shop online.

This recipe is super easy and super yummy! The secret to success is all in the timing, 2 min too long and you’ve got a dry fish, 2 min too short and you’ve got food poisoning. Only joking! Seriously you can undercook salmon by quite a way and be fine, but its nice to hit that sweet spot when it’s just barely raw in the very centre and nice and juicy throughout. Getting that exact moment obviously depends on the size of your fillets so it may take some trial and error, but as a guide I was using fairly large fillets here (about 250g each) and it took 10 mins. You can always take them out and poke a fork into the middle just before you think they might be done to check.

Anyways, I feel like I’m rambling now so let’s get on with the recipe!

I much prefer roasted brussels than boiled or steamed!

 

Ingredients:

• 2 large salmon fillets
• 1/2 red pepper, thickly sliced
• Handful brussel spouts
• About 5 small potatoes, cut into small chunks
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• Few slices of lemon (enough to lay over your fillets)
• 3 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method:

Put the honey, lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp rosemary, ginger, salt and pepper and 2 cloves crushed garlic in a bowl and combine well. Brush this mixture over both sides of the salmon and place any remaining mixture on top of the fillets. Lay the lemon slices on top of that and leave to marinate for at least 15 mins.

Heat oven to 200 degrees C.

Place potatoes in a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp rosemary, 1 clove crushed garlic and some salt and pepper. Mix well until all sides of the potatoes are coated and then transfer to a greased baking tray making sure they are sitting in one layer. Bake for 25 mins.

Add fish and veggies to the tray and drizzle veg with remaining oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Return tray to the oven and bake for a further 10 mins. Feel free to check fish sooner if you are using smaller fillets.