Sunday Roast for 2

Morning. It's Sunday, a day of rest, a day of reflection, a day of stuffing out faces with a good old fashioned roast dinner followed by a few scoops down the pub.

Please remember, the aim of this blog isn't to give you haute cuisine recipes, it's to tempt people away from processed food and to do that, we need to start simply, with simple recipes.

I'll probably create another blog with fine dining recipes, but this one is for simple, tasty, fresh food.

So..... here's an easy chicken roast for 2.

Small Chicken	2-3lb		£2.50
Floury Potatoes (King Edward, Maris Piper)	4 medium		£0.25
Carrots	2		£0.15
Swede	1/2		£0.30
Sprouts	1/4 lb		£0.70
Savoy Cabbage	1/2		£0.45
Breadcrumbs	1/2 cup		£0.10
Sage	1 tbsp		£0.05
Flour	1 tsp		£0.01
Red Wine	250ml		£1.00
Olive Oil	1/2 cup		£0.50
Sunflower Oil	1 cup		£0.40
Bacon	1 rasher		£0.40
Chicken Stock	3/4-1pt		£0.20
	Total		£7.01

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Place the chicken in a roasting dish and rub salt all over the skin.

Pour about 1/2 cup olive oil over the chicken, trying to cover all of it.

Place the chicken breast side down in the tray and put in the oven.

After 30 minutes turn the chicken over and baste with the juices.

Cook the chicken in total for a further 20 minutes per pound (40 minutes per kilo), basting with its juices every 20 minutes.

At the end of cooking, remove the chicken from the roasting dish and place on a plate/wire rack to rest. Drain most of the fat from the roasting pan.

While the chicken is cooking:

Peel the potatoes and cut in half (medium) or quarters (large).
Place in a pan of boiling, salted water, bring back to the boil and cook for 10 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and place in a roasting dish.

Peel the carrots and slice thinly.
Peel the swede and cut into 1/2" cubes.

Peel the sprouts and slice off a small piece at the stalk end.
Place the sprouts in a pan of boiling, salted water, bring back to the boil and cook for 5 minutes, then blanch (drain and douse with cold water). Drain the sprouts.

Once the chicken is cooked:

Turn the oven up to 200°C.

Pour the sunflower oil over the potatoes. Sprinkle with sea salt and place in the oven. Baste every 10 minutes with the oil. Cook for 45 minutes.

Place the roasting dish with the chicken juices on the hob and add 1 tbsp flour, stirring it around the dish to absorb the fat and juices. Turn the hob to a medium heat and add the red wine, scraping the bottom of the roasting dish with a wooden spoon to loosen any bit stuck to the bottom of the tray (deglazing). Bring to the boil then add the chicken stock (made from stock cubes is fine). Add a tablespoon of mixed herbs if you have any. Season with salt and pepper then cook for about 20 minutes at the boil.

Place the carrot and swede in a pan of boiling, salted water and cook for 15 minutes, until both carrot and swede are soft, then drain.
Add a good knob of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper to the carrot and swede and mash thoroughly with a potato masher.

Chop the bacon rasher into small pieces and cook in a small frying pan over a low heat. When the pan has some melted bacon fat in it, add the sprouts and fry for 2 minutes, seasoning with pepper.

Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan.
Slice the savoy cabbage into thin strips, place the pan and season with salt and pepper. Add a pinch of grated nutmeg if you have any. Fry over a low heat for about 5 minutes.

Carve the chicken and lay in the centre of the plate, surround with the roasties and veg.

Pour the gravy through a sieve into a jug and serve.