Roast Chicken For Christmas

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5 from 1 vote

with all the trimmings

Course: Dinner

Servings: servings

Calories: 1527kcal

Cost: 97p

Equipment

Ingredients

2 kg chicken a whole bird
320 g carrots
320 g brussels sprouts
700 g potatoes
2 cloves garlic
2 tblsp oil for roasting
160 g onions
15 g to rub into the chicken for crispy skin

cochons en couverture

4 onions medium ones, peeled
2 sausages smartprice ones, halved

Yorkshire puddings

1 egg
75 ml milk
55 ml water
2 tblsp fat fat from the roast
75 g flour must be plain

Gravy

400 ml apple juice up to, you may not need this much
vegetable cooking water
2 tblsps flour
1 tsp mustard powder (optional)
A sprig of rosemary, or thyme or a few sage leaves if you have them

Stuffing

80 g mixed dried fruit
150 g breadcrumbs
160 g onion
50 ml oil
sage leaves if you have them
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Two and a half hours before you want to serve the meal

Start by warming your oven to 220C/425F/Gas7. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and rub the butter all over the skin. Place the bird breast side up into a roasting tray and put into the oven.
Roast the bird for 30 minutes, then turn down the heat to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 and cook for a further hour and a half. Place it on the bottom shelf of the oven.

Stuffing

Soak the mixed dried fruit in a little warm water until plumped up. Drain. Finely chop the onion, or whizz in a food processer. Mix all stuffing ingredients together. Shape into small balls and place in a small roasting tin and drizzle with oil.

Yorkshire Puddings

Put all the ingredients for the Yorkshire puddings into a large bowl or food processer and whizz until well combined.

Cochons en Couverture

Cut the top and bottom centimetre off 4 medium onions, approximately the size of tennis balls. Using your potato peeler/apple corer, remove the centre of the onion, gouging a hole the same diameter as the sausage. Cut 2 sausages in half and insert into the onion cavity. Roast these along with your potatoes. Reserve the centres of your onions to add more flavour to your gravy.

An hour and a half before you want to serve the meal.

Peel the potatoes and chop into even sized pieces. Boil for 4-5 minutes until almost done. Drain, saving the vegetable water. While the potatoes are still hot, place them in a roasting dish or tray and rough the edges a little. Drizzle with oil, add some salt and pepper. Place on the top shelf of the oven. Wash the carrots, and cut off the top as close to the top as you can. You need large pieces of carrots as you are going to roast them, so cut into pieces 3 ins long and then cut in half lenthways. Peel the onions. Chop any very large onions into halves, or quarters if very large.
Place the carrots and onions in a roasting dish or tray that is just large enough to hold them. Toss through a little oil and grind over some salt and pepper. Tuck in a bay leaf or two and some whole garlic cloves if you have them, don't worry if you don't.
Place the carrots and onions in the oven, on the middle shelf, under the potatoes.

40 Minutes before you want to serve the meal

Turn the oven up to 220oC/Gas mark 7/425oF. The chicken should now be ready, you need to cook the Yorkshire puddings and stuffing. Check the bird is cooked through by pulling the leg away from the breast and ensuring the juices run clear. Carefully transfer the chicken from the roasting dish into a serving dish. Covering it with tin foil, leave it to rest and keep it warm.
Remove the roasted vegetables and cover with foil, keep warm. Place 2 tbslps oil in the pudding tin(s). Use some of the chicken fat from the roasting tin if you can for extra flavour. Place the Yorkshire pudding tin on the middle shelf to heat.
When really hot, remove, place on the worktop and tip/spoon the batter in, it should sizzle when it hits the tin. Immediately place back in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes for small ones, 25-30 minutes for a large one, until risen and golden brown.
After a while, place the stuffing balls on the bottom shelf and cook for 15-20 minutes. While the pudding and stuffing are cooking, make your gravy.
Spoon away any excess fat in the tray (keeping it for later use, in the yorkshire pudding) then add the apple juice, and some of the cooking water from the vegetables and place the tray on the hob. Bring it to the boil and allow it to simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to stir in the tasty bits from the bottom of the tray. Add salt and pepper and a little mustard if you have it, don't worry if you haven't.
You can add herbs now if you like, a sprig of thyme or rosemary would be nice, or some sage leaves. Stir in 2 tblsps flour and whisk gently to incorporate. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. If the flour won't whisk in and you have lumps, take any herbs out, put the gravy in a jug and give it a little whizz with a stick blender, or push it through a sieve. When the gravy is a nice, dark colour pour it into a bowl or gravy boat and keep warm.
Finally, put the Brussels sprouts in a saucepan on the hob with a little salted water and simmer until tender, drain.
Check the puddings and stuffing. The potatoes should be a deep golden brown with a lovely crunch. If the potatoes need a bit longer, take everything else out and keep warm while the potatoes have a final blast. Now you're all ready.
Serve 100g of chicken per person, reserving the rest for other meals in the week.
Keep any leftover vegetables for your spanish omelette and your chicken to use in place of pork in the tortilla wraps recipe, if you are following our Christmas planner.

Notes

Nutrition