The Hairy Bikers' roast chicken with herby stuffing
It’s official, roast chicken has been voted as the nation’s favourite Sunday roast, with 70% of those asked feel it’s great value for money. The Hairy Bikers are cooking up their perfect roast - Roast chicken with herby stuffing, roast potatoes, gravy and... Yorkshire puddings!
Roast chicken with herby stuffing
Roast chicken is the best of all Sunday dinners and brings back so many memories. Dave: Roast chicken, called plumpy chicken in our house, takes me back to my childhood, smelling the herby aromas while listening to ‘Two-way Family Favourites’ on the wireless. Si: My mam made the best stuffing and she firmly believed that stuffing belonged in the bird, not in balls.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1.5 – 1.8kg chicken, trussed and giblets removed
1 onion, thickly sliced
1 parsley sprig
1 thyme sprig
20g butter
½ a lemon
Sea salt and black pepper
Stuffing
15g butter
½ onion, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
100g breadcrumbs
Zest of 1 lemon
Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
leaves from 2 sprigs of tarragon, finely chopped
1 egg
Gravy
1 tbsp flour
100ml white wine
300ml chicken stock
Method
If possible, start preparing the chicken the day before you intend cooking it. Remove the chicken from it’s packaging. Sprinkle the cavity with flaky sea salt, then place the chicken on a plate. Sprinkle the skin of the chicken with more salt, then cover loosely with kitchen paper and leave it in the fridge. Remove the chicken from the fridge an hour before you want to cook it, so it can come up to room temperature.
To make the stuffing, heat the butter in a frying pan. Add the onion and celery cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
Tip everything into a bowl and leave to cool. Add the remaining stuffing ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly, then spoon the stuffing into the cavity of the chicken. Preheat the oven to 220C / fan 200C / gas 7.
Weight the chicken at this point – the cooking time is dependant on the weight once the stuffing is added. The roasting time is 20 minutes for every 500g plus 15 minutes at a high temperature right at the beginning – see below.
Put the onion and herbs in the centre of a roasting tin and place the chicken on top. Rub the butter over the skin, squeeze over the lemon juice, then put the lemon half in the cavity. Pour 200ml of water around the chicken. Roast at the high temperature for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 180C / fan 160C / gas 4 and continue to cook for the time you have worked out. If you can check with a meat thermometer, the stuffing and the thickest part of the chicken should be 75C. Or if you pierce the thickest past of a thigh with a skewer, the juices should run clear.
Transfer the cooked chicken and onion to a warm serving platter and loosely cover with foil to rest. Pour off the roasting tin juices into a jug and leave to separate. Strain off any fat.
To make the gravy, sprinkle the flour into the roasting tin and place it over a low heat. Stir the flour into the scrapings at the bottom of the tin to form a paste, then pour in the white wine. Allow this to bubble up, then stir until the mixture thickens. Slowly add the stock and the reserved juices. Strain the liquid into a pan and add any juices from the resting chicken. Bring to the boil then simmer for several minutes. Serve the chicken with the gravy and the stuffing spooned out. Roast potatoes are a must.
Roast potatoes
Serves: 4 - 6
Ingredients
1.5kg potatoes such as Maris Pipers
100g goose fat
2 tbsp semolina
sea salt and pepper
Method
Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks. Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil and boil for about 5 minutes. Drain well into a colander, then tip the potatoes back into the pan and shake them to scuff up the surfaces. This helps to make lovely crispy roasties.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 – 220C / fan 180-200 / gas 6-7 and melt the goose fat in a roasting tin. It must be good and hot. Sprinkle the semolina over the potatoes and carefully tip them into the sizzling goose fat. Season liberally and roast the potatoes until golden, this will take 45 - 50 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. Serve at once.
Yorkshire pudding
Serves: 4
Ingredients
4 heaped tbsp plain flour
½ tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
275ml full fat milk
2- 3 tbsp vegetable oil such as sunflower, or a blob of goose fat
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C / gas 7
Sieve the flour with the salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Gradually work in the beaten eggs, then whisk in the milk – the consistency should be like single cream. Leave the batter to stand for at least an hour.
You’ll need some Yorkshire pudding tins, either individual ones or one big tin. Put the oil or goose fat into your Yorkshire pudding tin and put it in the oven for at least 5 minutes, until it’s smoking hot. Give the batter a stir, quickly pour it into the tin and watch it sizzle! Quickly put the tin into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the pudding has risen to golden brown perfection.