Roast chicken with cranberry stuffing and naughty mash
John shares his Nana's indulgent roast chicken recipe for a tasty alternative to traditional turkey and trimmings.
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS - CHICKEN AND STUFFING
1.5kg free range chicken
100g soft butter
100gr bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
100g chestnuts, chopped
100g cranberries
Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
150g fresh breadcrumbs
1 orange, zested
1 Granny Smith apple, grated
100g sausage meat
Salt and pepper
INGREDIENTS - NAUGHTY MASH
2kg potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
70g butter
200ml milk
50ml double cream
A few pinches of white pepper and salt
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 190c - 200c.
For the stuffing, fry the onions and bacon in 50g of butter with some salt and pepper.
Add the chestnuts, orange zest, cranberries and grated apple and cook for a couple of minutes.
In a mixing bowl, combine the sausage meat and breadcrumbs, then add in everything else from the frying pan. Mix together until it becomes a firm stuffing mix.
Fill the chicken with the stuffing and then slather with the remaining soft butter and some seasoning.
Place the chicken in a baking dish and cook for 1 hour 15/30 minutes. After 45 mins, turn the chicken over so it sits breast side down and cook for another 30/45 minutes.
Once cooked, remove from the oven, cover with a sheet of foil and leave to rest for 20 minutes before carving. Reserve any cooking juices to make gravy.
For the naughty mash, put the potato chunks in a large saucepan, cover liberally with cold water and a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.
Once soft, drain well, put back into the cooking pot and cover with a tea towel. Leave until completely dry but still hot, then mash with a fork.
Heat the milk, cream and butter in a separate pan, until hot. Add a few good pinches of salt and white pepper. Allow to come to the boil and then pour into the potatoes. Turn the heat on under the potato pan to make sure the mixture is really hot.
Beat and work the potato, still on the heat, adding more milk and butter as desired, until the mixture begins to bubble.
Serve alongside the roast chicken and the stuffing.