Simple Slow Roast Chicken

If there is one thing I've tried a hundred variations for it's the humble Roast Chicken. There are literally so many ways to cook a chicken and they each have their own virtues. 

This particular variation is a 'slow cooked' version; which is actually only two and a half hours in the oven so isn't a great investment; but the end result is a perfectly cooked, moist and tender chicken, with crispy browned skin and tons of flavour. 

As with all roasted meats; the important thing is to allow the meat to rest after cooking as it will then retain its juices and be succulent; rather than dry. Everyone loves a good Sunday roast dinner and if you're not confident in cooking a chicken this is an excellent way to start and fool-proof in my experience. 

You'll see I cooked this alongside the Slow Roast Pork Belly with Crispy Crackling which is also cracking .

Simple Slow Roast Chicken

Here's how:

• 1 large chicken (approx 1.6kg-2kg)
• 1 large glass white wine
• Chicken stock
• 6 garlic cloves
• Thyme leaves and stalks (or dried thyme)
• Rosemary leaves and stalks (or dried)
• 1 lemon
• Knob of butter
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees. 

Place the chicken into a large roasting tin. Now use your hands to smear over the butter all over the skin; this will help to result in crispy skin and moist meat underneath.

Wash your hands, and then season the bird with sea salt and black pepper. 

Pour the white wine into the bottom of the roasting tin (be careful not to pour any onto the chicken skin) and then make up the same amount of chicken stock as the wine, about 250ml or just under and pour into the bottom of the tin too. 

Throw in the rosemary and thyme all around the tin, and scatter the garlic cloves. Cut the lemon into halves or wedges and add to the roasting tin. 

Now loosely cover the roasting tin in foil and place into the oven for 1 hour exactly. 

Remove from the oven, and take off the tin foil. Return for 50 minutes and then turn the temperature up to 220 degrees and cook for 30 minutes more which will help with browning the skin.

Take the chicken out of the oven and carefully take it out of the tin and place onto a plate. Loosely cover with tin foil and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes or 60 if you have the time. Enjoy!

Simple Slow Roast Chicken with Slow Roast Cider Pork Belly

Middle Eastern Roast Pork with Roasted Roots and Yoghurt Dip

At the weekend, following a few weekends of eating a traditional Sunday roast dinner I fancied cooking something different - a twist on the classic and came up with this Middle Eastern-inspired pork shoulder joint that I marinated for five hours and it went down a treat, we'll definitely be having it again.

I served with some roasted 'roots' or carrots and parsnips drizzled with olive oil and scattered with cumin seeds and some garlic-roasted sweet potato plus a little wilted spinach and a quick yoghurt dip - delicious.

The below was enough for Glen, Bridget (age 2) and myself with a little sliced meat leftover for sandwiches the next day.

Middle Eastern Roast Pork and Roasted Roots

Here's how:

• 1 small pork shoulder (approx 1.5kg)
• The pork marinade:
• 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
• 1.5 tsp dried ginger
• 1 tsp ras el hanout
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp sea salt

The roots:

• 1 pack baby parsnips
• 2 large carrots
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 4 cloves garlic
• Pinch sea salt
• Pinch black pepper
• Olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Everything else:

• Half pack spinach
• 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
• Handful parsley
• Handful coriander

Firstly combine the cumin, ginger, ras el hanout, pepper, salt, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon and paprika in a small bowl and mix to combine the spice mix. Get your pork joint into a large bowl and rub all over with the spice mix, into the creases of the meat to ensure it is fully coated.

Now wash your hands, and then cover the pork with either cling film or tin foil and place into the fridge to marinade for several hours. If you haven't got five hours, a couple will do.

Once the pork is sufficiently marinated, remove from the fridge for twenty minutes and pre-heat the oven to 180. Then place the pork into a roasting tin, fat side up, drizzle with a little olive oil and place onto the middle shelf. This will need 30 minutes per 500g plus an additional 20 minutes - or cook according to the packaging.

Whilst the pork is cooking, peel the sweet potatoes and chop into flat rounds and place into a small oven proof dish that you can mash into after roasting, place in four unpeeled garlic cloves and set aside.

If using the baby parsnips you can just cut the ends off but I like to peel too as Bridget won't eat them with the peel on. Place them into another roasting dish. Peel the carrots and cut into long wedges, similarly sized to the baby parsnips and add to the roasting tin. Drizzle with a generous glug of olive oil (1.5 tbsp) and then scatter over the cumin seeds and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper then toss to coat fully. Cover and set aside.

Cumin Roots

When you have about half an hour of pork cooking time left, place all of the roots into the oven to begin cooking - they will take about 45 minutes, which allows the meat some resting time.

For the yoghurt dip simply chop the parsley and coriander and add to a bowl with the yoghurt. Then once the sweet potato is out of the oven, take out one of the roasted garlic cloves and add to the dip and stir well. Leave in the fridge until serving.

When the meat is out of the oven, leave to stand and rest for 15-20 minutes before carving into thick slices.

Middle Eastern Pork

Place a drizzle of olive oil into a pan and wilt the spinach with a little salt for 1 minute whilst getting everything else out of the oven.

The sweet potatoes need to be gently crushed or mashed in their cooking vessel, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a teaspoon of cinnamon and stir through.

Roasted garlic sweet potatoes, pre mashing

Cumin roasted roots

Now use a platter or a wooden board and dish everything up accordingly, so the family can dig in and get as much or as little of what they want. Once the meat is on, drizzle over some of the yoghurt dip which complements the flavours really well. Enjoy!

Breakfast at Caravan, Exmouth Market

There are tons of places in London where you can enjoy a completely delicious, and no doubt, bang-on-trend breakfast in London, and Caravan, Exmouth Market remains up there.

I chose this last Thursday for a working breakfast as it was close to where I needed to be later that morning and mainly for the laid back vibe, prompt yet un-stuffy service and some of the best coffee in the City.

The entire Caravan breakfast menu shouts of delicious combinations such as Coconut Bread with poached rhubarb cream cheese and lemon curd and plenty of different items on toast, but I chose for the Instagram breakfast of choice, Avocado on Toast (granary), with a side of crispy streaky bacon and roasted tomatoes. 

Avocado on Toast, Caravan

The avocado was mashed and topped with a drizzle of olive oil and some chilli and every mouthful positively sung and was only improved by the addition of bacon and the tomatoes were slow roasted, sweet and absolutely gorgeous.

I've long loved the coffee at Caravan and enjoyed a latte plus some fresh apple juice.

Latte, Caravan

My colleague had a scrambled egg dish on toast, a flat white and a juice too and the entire breakfast came in at £35 which I didn't think was bad considering the location and ambience.

Some of my other favourite breakfast spots in London:
1. The Modern Pantry’s Turmeric and Coconut Waffle with Rhubarb Compote
2. Duck & Waffle’s Full Elvis
3. Roast – The Full Borough breakfast and some of the best black pudding I've tried
4. Black Forest Pancakes at The Table
5. The Bacon Naan Roll at Dishoom – the perfect hangover fodder