Fantastic Roast Chicken

This roast chicken is really tasty. The principle is very similar to the perfect roast chicken recipe in my first book, getting fantastic flavors right into the bird.

Serves 6
One 2-lb chicken, preferably organic
1 large lemon
8 slices prosciutto or Parma ham, thinly sliced
1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 good handfuls of fresh thyme, leaves picked from stems and finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup of softened butter
2 ¼lb potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large celeriac, peeled

Preheat the oven and an appropriately sized roasting pan to 425 F. Wash your chicken inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. Using your fingers, part the breast skin from the breast meat. It’s important to try to push your hand gently down the breast, being careful not to rip the skin. With a peeler, remove and chop the fragrant yellow skin of the lemon, keeping the peeled lemon to one side. Then tear up your prosciutto and add into a bowl with the lemon skin, garlic and thyme. Season, and then scrunch it all into the butter. Push this into the space you have made between the meat and the skin – rub and massage any that’s left over in and around the bird. It’s all tasty stuff. I could tell you to tie the chicken up but I’ve decided it’s a palaver and not worth it in this case. Slash the thigh meat to allow the heat to penetrate a little more, which makes it taste better. Cut the peeled lemon in half and push it into the cavity. Then put your chicken in the hot roasting pan and roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, parboil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes and drain. Cut the celeriac into irregular chunks around the same size as the potatoes. Remove the chicken from the oven, by which time the tasty butter will have melted, flavored and cooked out of the chicken into the bottom of the pan, awaiting your potatoes and celeriac. Normally I put a fork into the cavity of the chicken and lift it out of the tray for 20 seconds while I toss and coat the vegetables in the butter. Put the chicken back on top of the vegetables and cook for around 40 minutes. Leave to stand for 10 minutes. Once the meat and vegetables have been removed, a little light gravy can be made in the pan on the stove with a splash of wine and stock and a little simmering and scraping.

Mashed Potato

I love mashed potato. Everyone’s made it before, so I’m not trying to teach you a new recipe, but there is a good mash and there is a bad mash. With no extra effort you can make it really nice and have some simple variations to take a dinner in a completely different direction.

3 lb boiling potatoes
1 tablespoon salt

Wash your potatoes, peel them and wash again. Cut them into equal-sized pieces so they will be ready at the same time. Just cover them with water. Add the salt. Boil until tender (until they fall off the blade easily when stabbed with a knife – or you can just take one out, cut a bit off and taste it). When they are cooked, put them into a colander and allow to sit for 4 minutes, to let all the moisture and water drain and steam off. At this stage you can either place the potatoes back in the pan to be mashed or smashed; or you can use mouli (one of those things and it sort of mashes the potato for you); or you can use a ricer (this is like a big garlic press which pushes the potato through the little holes, making it look like rice).

Variations

Buttered Mashed Potatoes

Add ¼ to ½ cup of butter to your mashed potato. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper Add nutmeg to taste and mix.

Creamed Mashed Potatoes

Add 6 tablespoons of butter and 2/3 to 3/4 cup heavy cream to the mashed potato. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add nutmeg to taste and mix until smooth and creamy.

Simple Chocolate Tart

This chocolate tart is great for those chocofreaks who turn up out of the blue as it is dead quick to make. I think this particular tart cries out for a slightly thicker pastry shell. The better the chocolate you can buy, the tastier it will be.

1 tart shell, baked blind
1 cup plus 6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 level tablespoons sugar
the smallest pinch of salt
½ cup butter, softened
1lb best-quality bittersweet chocolate, broken up
scant ½ cup cold milk
unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

Place the cream, sugar and pinch of salt in a pan and bring to the boil. As soon as the mixture has boiled, remove from the heat and add the butter and chocolate. Stir until it has completely melted. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, stirring in the cold milk until smooth and shiny. Sometimes this mixture looks like it has separated. Allow to cool down a bit more and whisk in a little extra cold milk until smooth. Scrape all the mixture into the cooked and cooled pastry shell with a spatula. Shake the tart to even it out and allow to cool for around 1-2 hours until it is at room temperature. Dust with the cocoa powder. Ultimately the pastry should be short and crisp and the filling should be smooth and should cut like butter.

 

Reprinted with permission from The Naked Chef, Hyperion, copyright 2000