It's the Simple Things - Roast Chicken and More

A mission of mine is to share and teach as many people as I can the value of a roast chicken. Roast chicken dinner is one of my favourite meals – simple, comforting, delicious, nutritious and easy to make. I grew up in a house where we had a roast dinner most Sundays – and it’s a fond childhood memory. If you ask my niece and nephew what they want for dinner – it’s usually roast chicken.

We roast a lot of chickens at Awn (I bought four today for the next week). Sometimes whole, sometimes we spatchcock them – which means removing the backbone and flattening the bird, meaning a quicker cooking time.  For both, I roast them at 450F for 10 – 20 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 375F until the chicken is cooked. I roast them in a solid roasting tin, braiser or a Dutch Oven. I find using something flatter like a roasting tin or braiser means a richer more flavourful gravy. Sometimes we roast them simply with olive oil and salt and pepper, or with a marinade. Sometimes we dollop them with butter instead of oil. Lemon, and woody herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme) are delicious stuffed into the cavity or under the bird if you’ve spatchcocked it. At home in the summer, I’ll roast a chicken in the morning to serve cold or throw it on the barbecue in a cast iron pan.

I’ve said it before – I don’t love talking about food being expensive, because I truly believe it shouldn’t be cheap, cheap food has an impact that ripples into many areas. I do think food should be fair – for the farmer, the environment and for the consumer in all the areas it ripples to. With our costs going up – surely, we can understand that farmers are also experiencing the same things within their business meaning yes, they may have to charge more to be profitable.

Buying chicken breasts, or thighs or legs or wings – costs more than buying a whole chicken for the same amount (by weight) of chicken, the processor has had to do more work, it makes sense. But here’s the thing, with a roast chicken you can please those who love white meat (without drying it out), and those who love dark meat, you get the bonus of a carcass to make stock out of, and you have drippings which once you deglaze are liquid gold – for gravy, or to pop into the freezer to use to bulk up a batch of gravy down the road or to add flavour to a soup, stew or pie. And the chef’s perk… Two perfectly delicious roasted wings – which can obviously also be served, but it’s my favourite part of a roast chicken and they rarely make it to the table. At Awn, I’m sure to share the wealth of those perfect wings. 

I love seeing how far I can push one chicken (at home) – if I put the whole thing on the table, it will get eaten (because it’s so delicious), but if you portion it out, it’s amazing just how far you can push it. I am intentional about it. It depends what I am using it for – if I was serving a roast chicken, more would go to the table, but if it’s going into a pie or soup or salad or pasta etc., you can get away with using far less – and no one will notice. Last weekend I roasted a chicken at Awn for class, we used half of it in a chicken pie that if it was a main course would have served six people generously with a salad on the side. I took the rest home and made chicken stew that served four of us, with leftovers for two more portions. There was still leftover chicken that was used for chicken sandwiches the next day. And there is a carcass in the freezer to make stock with that will be the base of a soup down the road. It was a decent sized chicken, but not huge – it’s not all about the meat-based protein, and I think that’s something we need to remember. Eat less meat, better quality – and make the ripple positive.

And the last thing – a roast chicken, it’s easy to chuck into the oven, set a timer and walk away – but it doesn’t have to be used for a roast chicken dinner. It can be sliced or shredded with endless opportunity. I think sometimes the idea of a roast chicken is more complicated than it is - it really is something you put in the oven and walk away from. 

Gravy Recipe 
drippings from the chicken
chicken stock
roux
salt and pepper, to taste 

 When your chicken or turkey is done, remove it from the roasting pan. Place your roasting pan on the stove and turn on the heat. Once the drippings begin to bubble, deglaze your pan with about 125ml of homemade chicken stock. At this point you can pour the liquid (scrapping all the bits!), into a pyrex jug or megras so that the fat will come to the top, this is called degreasing. Once the fat has been removed, place the liquid into a clean saucepan and continue.  Add more stock to desired amount of gravy, bring to the boil, and start to thicken with roux. Thicken to desired consistency, season with salt and pepper. As always taste as you go. 

Tips: Freeze leftover gravy to add to your next batch to bulk it up. Even if you’re not using a roast chicken for a roast dinner, save the drippings by deglazing the pan with some stock (or even water), or make gravy right away to freeze. If gravy is a stressful part of the meal, you can take the chicken or turkey out of the oven and swap it onto a hot tray and make your gravy ahead – don’t forget to add any drippings from the second roasting tray to your gravy at the end. When you're using roux - the liquid needs to come to a boil for the roux to do it's job -- thicken. The thicker the gravy, the more people will use, if you're serving a crowd make a thinner gravy to push it further without losing the flavour which will happen if you add too much liquid. 

Roux
Roux is a handy thing to have in the fridge if you cook a lot. It really is the start to a lot of sauces, having it prepared ahead and in the fridge can save some time. 

 equal parts butter and flour, by weight 

Melt the butter in a saucepan, when it begins to bubble slowly add the flour, stirring constantly. Cook off the flour flavour for a couple of minutes. You can store roux in an airtight jar in the fridge for a few weeks. Grate it into sauces as needed. 

Goat Man's Chicken Pie
This recipe is from Julius Roberts - he's worth following on Instagram. I've fondly named him goat man , he lives in England and raises goats. He shares beautiful recipes which he cooks from his greenhouse. This recipe is inspired by a pie he made a few years ago.

1/2 a roast chicken
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 leeks, finely chopped, tough green parts removed (save for the stock pot)
3 carrots, finely chopped
6 strips of bacon or 4oz of ham (optional)
30g butter (x2 if using ham instead of bacon or neither)
400ml homemade chicken stock
50g flour
150ml white wine
200ml whipping cream
1 heaped tbsp Dijon mustard
3 stalks thyme
a good handful of chopped parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
1 egg, for egg wash
500g all butter puff pastry  

Prepare your vegetables. In a large Dutch oven, fry off the bacon over a medium heat – if using ham, add 30g of butter, the ham and all of the vegetables with the thyme. Sauté until tender. For bacon – fry until halfway cooked before adding the vegetables, and carry on as above. Add the flour to the vegetables, cook for a few minutes, add the wine, and cook until reduced. Add the stock. Turn off the heat, add the cream, Dijon, parsley and chicken. Taste and correct the seasoning. Pour into a pie dish, leave to cool, top with pastry, egg wash and bake at 425F for 25 – 30 minutes.

Happy cooking!
K xx