roast

Ingredients:

For the stuffing:

Half a jar of cranberry sauce – around 200g

100ml ruby port

2 small onion, chopped

200g Pancetta or smoked bacon cubes

100g butter

4 garlic cloves, chopped

900g sausage meat

280g fresh white or brown breadcrumbs

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

½ tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves

300g peeled, cooked chestnuts roughly chopped

2 medium egg, lightly beaten

salt and pepper to taste

For the roast chicken:

2 x medium free-range chickens

about 500ml of chicken stock

250ml white wine

2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation Method:

For the stuffing –

Chop and fry the onion and pancetta gently in the butter, until the onion is tender and the bacon is cooked.

Add the garlic to onion and pancetta cubes and continue to fry for another minute or so.

Leave to cool slightly, then mix with all the remaining ingredients, including the cranberries and port, and add enough egg to bind. Fry a knob of stuffing in a little butter, taste and then adjust the seasoning as you see fit.

To stuff the chicken, begin at the neck end where you will find a flap of loose skin: gently loosen this away from the breast and pack about two-thirds of the stuffing inside. Make a neat round shape on the outside then tuck the neck flap under the bird’s back (you can secure it with a small skewer). Take the remaining stuffing and place it in the body cavity.

Place the chickens into a roasting tin, breast-sides up, and add just enough chicken stock and white wine to cover the bottom of the roasting tin.

Place the chicken in the roasting tin and smear 2 oz (50 g) of softened butter all over the chicken with your hands. Squeeze over the juice of half a lemon. Season the chicken all over with salt and freshly milled black pepper then arrange 7 rashers of smoked streaky bacon in a row along the breast. Cut one extra rasher in two and place a piece on each leg. Finally place the remaining half a lemon between the legs of the chicken. Cover the roasting tin with aluminium foil.

Roast in the centre of a pre-heated oven, gas mark 5, 375°F (190°C), for 20 minutes per lb (450 g) plus 10-20 minutes extra – this will be 1 hour and 50 minutes to 2 hours for a 5 lb (2.25 kg) bird. Baste three times with the stock/white wine mixture and fat during the cooking time. During the last basting, remove the crisped bacon rashers and keep them warm. For the final 30 minutes of cooking, remove the foil increase the heat to gas mark 7, 425°F (220°C) to give the skin that final golden crispiness. When it is cooked, remove it from the oven and cover it with foil. Sprinkle over some fresh chopped parsley. Leave to rest for 30 minutes before serving.

The stuffing used in this recipe can also be baked in a dish, or rolled into balls that will be crisp on the outside and moist inside. To bake, press the stuffing into a greased ovenproof dish in a layer that is around 4cm thick. Bake at 190C/gas 5/fan 170C for about 40 minutes, until browned and, in the case of sausage meat stuffing, cooked right through. Alternatively, roll into balls that are about 4cm in diameter. Roast the stuffing balls in hot fat (they can be tucked around the bird to be roasted, or done in a roasting tin of their own) for 30-40 minutes, until crisp and nicely browned on the outside.

This bright, colourful, simple Chicken dish has been passed down through my mum’s family. The distinctly asian flavours and aromas are deep, and strong but quite fresh. The dish is simplicity itself to put together and cook. Julienning the ginger and vegetables beforehand will make things easier for you. If you have the time, the only difficult decision you have is whether to take a break from the cooking after the Chicken has braised in the first section of prep and let it marinade for a few hours… though obviously this turns a dish that is quite quick to cook into an all day affair (though you can obviously just leave the chicken marinating and go and do your own thing). Twice cooking the chicken is an important process for the flavours and textures – the first slow braising step imparts rich colour and flavour to the chicken as well as making the flesh succulent and tender. Roasting the chicken after this and basting it gives the chicken an indulgent crispy sticky covering that holds a real flavour punch. Served with fresh tangy spring onions ,spicy chillies and simple boiled rice this dish springs off the plate and into your mouth with a awesome medley of complimenting tastes and textures –

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken:

Small whole chicken
Cup of Water
Cup of chicken stock
3 small yellow onions
4 spring onions
5 garlic cloves, peeled, bruised
6cm piece fresh ginger
3 star anise
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 cup Chinese rice wine
6 tbsp Light soya
4 tbsp Dark soya sauce
2 long red chilli, thinly sliced
heaped tbsp sesame seeds
Steamed jasmine rice to serve

For the marinade:

1 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon Chang’s sesame oil

For basting:

500ml of Chicken stock.

Preparation Method:

Wash chicken and pat dry skin and body cavity with kitchen paper towel. OR leave to air dry for about 30-40 mins.
Butcher the Chicken into its disassembled pieces – breast, wings and legs and thighs.
Slice the ginger and onion into thin strips around 5-6 cm long.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the ginger and yellow onion until starting to colour. Add half the sliced chilli and fry for around a minute.
Place garlic + chicken pieces in pan in a single layer. Brown on one side, then turn over all the pieces and brown the other side.
Sprinkle rice wine onto chicken and add stock and water into wok with chicken. Then add soya sauce (light and dark), oyster sauce, star anise and the sugar.
Turn heat to medium-low then cover wok and braise chicken until cooked; turning frequently to avoid burning skin. When the liquid in the wok becomes thicker then leave uncovered and continues to cook on low heat and spooning the liquid onto chicken to colour the skin. This gives the chicken a lovely brown colour on the skin and cook the meat in a way which is succulent and tender. It takes appox. 35 mins. to cook the chicken.
At this stage – if you want you can let the dish cool and place into the fridge with all the pan juices for 4hrs (or even up to 12hrs.) – Though it will add flavour to the dish, its not really necessary.
Transfer to a roasting pan, skin side up. Pat dry with paper towel.
Meanwhile, make marinade Combine hoisin sauce, honey, five spice, soy sauce, chilli and sesame oil in a bowl. Reserve 1 tablespoon mixture.
Roast for 10 minutes or until browned. Remove from oven. Rotate chicken. Brush chicken with remaining marinade. Cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and dark brown. Baste throughout with chicken stock and any leftover marinade.
Meanwhile toast some sesame seeds in a pan.
Transfer the chicken to a plate. Cover with foil. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
Thinly slice remaining spring onion. Place individual portion of chicken on a plate, sprinkle a pinch of toasted sesame seeds on top. Garnish chicken with spring onion and chilli.
Serve with rice and drizzle over some of the pan juices.