Roast chicken with all the trimmings recipe

Details

• Cuisine: English
• Recipe Type: Main
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation Time: 50 mins
• Cooking Time: 150 mins
• Serves: 4

Step-by-step

1. Tie the chicken tightly with string, tucking in the legs to make them the same width as the widest area of the breast. (If you are unsure how to do this, ask your butcher.)
2. Pour the stock and water into a deep flameproof casserole or large saucepan and place over a medium heat. Add the bay leaf and peppercorns, then the chicken. Season the stock lightly with salt and pepper and bring to the boil, then immediately lift the chicken out of the liquid and allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Reserve the poaching liquid.
3. Cut the onion lengthways into quarters, leaving the skin on (this will help darken the gravy). Wrap the chipolatas in the bacon. Pick over, wash and dry the watercress.
4. For the roast potatoes, peel and halve the potatoes and put them into a pan of lightly salted cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until they begin to break up slightly, then carefully lift them into a colander placed over a bowl and leave to cool.
5. For the bread sauce, cut the bread into rough chunks and discard the crusts. Peel the onion, cut lengthways into quarters and stud with the cloves. Put the onion into a saucepan with the milk, bay leaf and salt to taste and bring to the boil. Take off the heat and leave to cool slightly, then remove the onions and whisk in the bread until it breaks down completely. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.
6. For the crisps, cut the unpeeled potatoes into 1mm-thick slices using a mandolin.
7. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
8. Put the duck fat for the roast potatoes in a roasting tray and heat in the oven until hot. Meanwhile, place the cooled chicken in a roasting tray, smear with the butter and season well. Surround the bird with the onion quarters and bacon-wrapped chipolatas.
9. Place the parboiled potatoes in the tray of hot duck fat and roast them with a sprinkling of sea salt for 1 hour 10 minutes. At the same time, place the chicken in the oven and roast for 35 minutes. To check if the chicken is cooked, insert the tip of a small knife into the thickest part of a leg: the juices MUST run clear. Remove the chicken and chipolatas from the roasting tray and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, make the gravy. Drain away the fat from the onions in the roasting tray and pour in 1 litre of the reserved poaching liquid. Bring to the boil and scrape the sediment free with a spoon, then strain into a saucepan and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep hot.
11. Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or a pan of shallow oil to 170°C and fry the potato crisps until brown and crisp all over, moving them frequently in the oil. Lift out and drain on paper towels, and season with some crunchy salt.
12. To serve, divide the watercress equally between 4 plates. Remove the string from the chicken, then place the bird on a serving plate with the chipolatas and the crisps (which will soak up the roasting juices). Place the plate in the middle of the table with a large, sharp carving knife, the gravy in a jug and a pot of warm bread sauce. Place the roasties in a large bowl for folk to help themselves. Sharing food for caring folk…roast chicken with all the trimmings! Yum.