A couple ideas for some gorgeous chicken dishes!

Roast Chicken Dinner

INGREDIENTS

1 X 2KG Large Chicken – do not wash and be careful not to touch the bird and then touch other things without washing your hands.

800g Potatoes – peel and cut into thick slices or Roastie size chunks

2 -3 Carrots – peel and cut into slices

1 large Parsnip – peel and cut into half lengthways, then the thinner top piece into two pieces lengthways and the bottom piece into 6 pieces lengthways – giving you 8 slices of parsnip.

1 lemon cut in half around the middle

Thyme – sprig of – just leave whole

2 x cloves of garlic.

Cabbage – savoy use half of a whole cabbage, remove outer layer and cut into thickish strips, rather like segments of an orange

STORECUPBOARD

Salt and Pepper

Oil

25g of butter – soften and seasoned with salt and pepper

Gravy of your choice

METHOD

1] Pre heat your oven to 200C/180C FAN/ Gas 6.

2] Place your potatoes, carrot and parsnip into a large bowl and pour over 1 tablespoon of oil, agitate the dish to be sure the oil distributes onto the vegetables, the tip them into the bottom of a large ovenproof dish or roasting tin.

3] Place your chicken on top of the vegetables and carefully put all the lemon, garlic, thyme inside the cavity.

4] take your seasoned butter and spread between the skin and the flesh on the breast of the chicken this will prevent it from running off and keep the breast moist.

5] Now put the dish into the pre heated oven and cook for approx. 1hour and 40 minutes, checking half way through to make sure it isn’t going too crispy and to turn over the vegetables.

6] After your chicken has been in the oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes, put a frying pan onto a medium heat, add a further drizzle of oil then carefully scatter the cabbage over the top, seasoning with black pepper and a pinch of salt, turn to coat in the oil and cook till it wilts, you may find it useful to add a couple of tablespoons of boiled water to help it reach its wilted ending! Over a gentle heat this will take between 15 and 20 minutes.

7] When the chicken cooking time is up making sure your chicken is fully cooked, as a rule of thumb, you need to allow 20 minutes per 500g of weight plus an extra 15 – 20 minutes at the end…. You can double check your chicken is cooked by piercing with a sharp pointed knife the thickest part of the bird, this is between the breast and the leg then make sure no pink runs out with the juices that you will release by doing this. The liquid needs to be totally clear.  At this stage you can remove the chicken from the roasting pan and cover with foil and allow to stand for a further 10 minutes before carving.  Put the roasting pan with the vegetables in it back in the oven to crisp a little.

8] While you carve your chicken and it will still be hot so the temptation is to cut it very chunky and use a lot of it, be mindful that you will have plenty, but you also want some left over for these other meals that follow on.

8] Your cabbage, chicken and roast vegetables are now ready, serve with a gravy of your choice if you want one.

TIP Once your chicken is cold, strip off all the meat using a small sharp knife you can get lots off, don’t worry if a little bit here and there is left on as you are going to make a soup from the carcass which will make another main meal served with a chunk of bread or a lighter lunch.  With the chicken you have removed, put it into a Tupper-wear lidded box, allow to chill quickly, clip the lid on and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

So now to make some more dinners from this delicious Roast Chicken.

Chicken and leek pie with root mash.

Take two leeks, remove the root and the outer layer, making sure there is no soil hiding within the folds of the leaves.  Cut into thin rings.  Put your fry pan over a medium heat, add 1 teaspoon of oil allow to warm through then add the sliced leeks & mushrooms and cook until soft [ usually around 10 minutes] remove from the heat and drain off any excess liquid.  To your vegetable mixture add your Tin of Campbells cream of chicken soup – this is the only liquid you will need, if you have some in your store-cupboard you can optionally at this stage add 2 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard. Mix the ingredients together well and gently stir in some left-over chicken – allowing approx. 500g of cooked chicken cut into chunks.

Switch your oven onto Gas 6 200C/FAN280C to preheat.

Take a round or square 8-inch baking dish/tin.  Spoon your pie filling mixture into the dish, now taking your ready to use pastry cover the top of the dish taking care to wet the edge of the dish lightly to get the pastry to stick.  Using the end of a sharp knife make three little slits in the pastry to allow the steam to come out and the pastry to cook well.  Place your pie into the oven for approx. 20 – 25 minutes, remember the filling is cooked so you are just wanting to cook the pastry, if at any stage it starts to burn pop a loose piece of foil over the top.

While your pie is cooking peel 4 potatoes and cut into chunks, add half a swede cut into chunks and 2 carrots cut into chunks, place in a pan of cold water add 1 teaspoon of salt, bring to the boil, cover, and cook until the veg is soft enough to mash it will be ready at about the same time as your pie.

Hearty Chicken and Vegetable Soup – put the chicken carcass in a large saucepan or stock pot, cover with water, drop in a bay-leaf, bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.  Carefully remove the bones leaving the liquid and any bits of chicken in the pot.  Drop in 4 x potatoes cut into 4cm cubes, 2 x carrots cut into rings and 1 large onion diced, add freshly ground pepper, ½ tsp turmeric, & a tablespoon of your kallo chicken and rosemary stock paste from the tube and make sure you have enough liquid to cover the vegetables, if not add some extra water  – bring to a simmer again, cover and after 30 minutes check to see that the vegetables are nearly cooked and add in a 75g dry weight of spaghetti broken into small pieces [ the easiest way to do this is to put your long spaghetti into a clean tea towel, wrap the tea towel round it like a cracker and holding the top of the tea towel in one hand place the other hand next to it, then pull up with the tea towel whilst  pushing the spaghetti down with the other hand.  The result is small pieces of pasta to add into your soup] these help to give a more substantial feel to the soup and add a different texture to it.]  As you add the spaghetti throw in 1 tablespoon of chopped dried parsley, continue to simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the spaghetti is cooked.  This is really nice served with a chunk of bread on a chilly autumn day.   This soup can be made, chilled and can be reheated once, making sure heat it up thoroughly before serving.

PS if you don’t like a chunky soup, then leave out the spaghetti and blitz with a blender to make a thick pureed soup which is equally as tasty……

Chicken Curry

A very quick curry to use whatever is left of your chicken, if you have a tin of chickpeas in our store cupboard have this ready to use too. First thing you need to do is to take a mug of boiling water and place your coconut cream [ unopened so still a sealed packed] into it to dissolve it.

Finely slice 1 x large onion and 1 x pepper [ doesn’t matter which colour], and 2 cloves of garlic add one teaspoon of oil to your frying pan and place over a gentle heat, add the vegetables and stir to coat and cook until starting to soften, now stir in your curry paste [ Korma or Tikka whichever you have] and gently heat through to release the aroma of the spices.  Now add 500 ml of boiling water and 1 level tablespoon of Kallo chicken and rosemary stock paste, now carefully open your coconut cream and add to this too – stirring carefully to combine all the flavours.  Lower the heat so the pan is barely steaming and add your leftover chicken – as your chicken is cooked you really now need to ensure you reheat it till it is piping hot!

While your curry bubbles you can cook your rice – allowing approx. 60g dry weight per portion.

This will take approx. 15 to 20 minutes.  In the last few minutes just before you want to serve this add a couple of handfuls of your washed and drained spinach and stir through to wilt, this will add a little more liquidity to the curry but adds a good texture.  This is also the point you can add a tin of drained and rinsed chickpeas if you have them in your store cupboard – it is a quick filling nutritious ingredient which will eek your curry out further