Sunday is roast day, doesn’t matter what animal it is, but it needs to be roasted.

Yesterday i decided to do chicken with roast potatoes, mashed potatoes and roast carrots & parsnips.

What you Need

• Whole Chicken – I used M&S’s chicken for this
• 2x 500g of Maris Pipers Potatoes – These potatoes seem to be the perfect all rounder
• Seasonings – Salt, pepper, paprika
• Carrots – 2 or 3 would feed 1-2 people
• Parsnip – 1 large one would feed 1-2 people
• Butter & milk – For the potatoes
• Olive Oil
• Bisto
• Stock Cube – I used Knorr bouillon cubes
• 1 Lemon – Cut into wedges
• 2 Cloves of garlic

Chicken

1. Take chicken out of packaging and remove the binding.
2. Clean the chicken if it has not been prepared already.
3. Make a mixture of salt, pepper and olive oil for rubbing onto the chicken.
4. Rub the inside of the cavity with this mixture, then fill it with lemon wedges and garlic.
5. Separate the skin from the breasts by pushing your fingers in-between it, be careful not to push too hard as it might tear the skin. Rub some of the oil mixture onto the breasts aswell.
6. Bind the chicken backup with the legs sticking into the cavity.
7. Rub down the chicken with the oil mixture making sure its completely covered.
8. Sprinkle a little paprika onto the chicken and rub it all over for a bit of colour and flavour.
9. Place into baking tray or back into the foil tin the chicken came in and place in the oven on the middle/top shelf at about 150ºc for time specified for the chicken, about 1hour per kg or so.

Mashed Potatoes

1. Wash and peel potatoes.
2. Chop potatoes in small cubes to cook faster.
3. Place potatoes into the pot and run under cool water until all the starch has disappeared form the water.
4. Add some sea salt and bring to the boil.
5. Prick the potatoes with a fork, when they slide off easily you’ll know they’re done.
6. Drain potatoes in a colander and leave them sitting in it with the lid left on top and allow to dry for a bit.
7. Use a potato ricer to mince your potatoes into the pot
8. Add some butter and milk to taste and mix thoroughly

Roast Potatoes

1. Wash and peel potatoes.
2. Chop potatoes in small cubes to cook faster.
3. Place potatoes into the pot and run under cool water until all the starch has disappeared form the water.
4. Add some sea salt and bring to the boil.
5. Prick the potatoes with a fork, when they slide off with a small bit of resistance you’ll know they’re done.
6. Drain potatoes in a colander and leave them sitting in it with the lid left on top and allow to dry for a bit.
7. Put some olive oil on a baking tray and place potatoes on it.
8. Put in the oven for 35-45 minutes.
9. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Roast carrots and parsnips

1. Wash and peel the vegetables.
2. Cut into sticks.
3. Place in a preparation bowl and add brown sugar to coat.
4. Put in the fridge until needed.
5. Place on baking tray or in the roasting dish (chicken was inside its foil container) and drizzle with a bit of olive oil and add a bit more sugar.
6. Cook for 25-35minutes until they’re cooked to preference.
7. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Gravy

1. Add 20ml or Bisto into a pot.
2. Add 1 bouillon cube.
3. Add the juices from the chicken, make sure to tip it up to get all the juices from the cavity.
4. Add about 150ml of hot water and mix and bring to the boil to thicken.

To serve, I cut the breasts away from the chicken and placed on the plates.

Potatoes and vegetables were served in bowls with paper towels

Gravy was served in a gravy jug.

Mash was served in dollaps on the plate with the chicken.