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

Leftover Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken

The humble whole roast chicken is, in my opinion one of the most versatile bits of meat and many of us will undoubtedly be throwing together a roast chicken dinner today. 

In our family of four, a whole, large roast chicken, will do us for a roast dinner with the usual trimmings, roast potatoes, vegetables, Yorkshire puddings and stuffing; but then I always make sure we get at least another meal out of it for the following day. 

Once I'm done with the chicken, I do try to always make chicken stock too; which can be used as the basis for a soup, stew, a risotto, jambalaya or the likes - and it freezes well too.

As people are having to be a bit more careful with their produce right now - I thought I'd share a round up of my top suggestions to utilize leftover roast chicken. 

Firstly for my generic roast chicken, I usually get a large bird, and I roast in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes. To get the crispy skin that my kids fight over, I drizzle with a little olive oil, then season generously with sea salt and black pepper. I also add a scattering of 1 tsp dried thyme and I place a few garlic cloves around the chicken and inside the cavity too. Sometimes I cut a lemon in half and add this to the cavity too which helps to keep the chicken moist. It's important that you always rest your meat when it comes out of the oven too; it will continue cooking, and it will carve and taste so much better once rested and juicy.

For chicken stock, take the carcass of the chicken and place into a large saucepan or stock pot, with any other remaining bones (such as the leg or wing bones). Now roughly chop a large onion or a handful of shallots into quarters (no need to peel), chop a couple of carrots (again skin on), and a few sticks of celery chopped up and add a bouquet garni or a few bay leaves and a handful of peppercorns and top with water. Slowly heat up and bring up to the boil. Once it has reached boiling point, take off the heat and then pass through a sieve into a large bowl or another sauce pan to remove any bits. Once cooled it can be kept 

Ideas for leftover chicken:

Chicken Noodle Soup

A nourishing bowl full of goodness with Asian flavours.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken and Mushroom Potato Pie 

Creamy, delicious and topped with cheesy mash potato, this is a crowd pleasing dish.

Chicken and Mushroom Potato Pie

Chicken, Bacon and Vegetable Pie

Who doesn't love a creamy chicken pie in flaky, puff pastry?

Chicken, Bacon and Vegetable Pie

Chicken Salad

You can throw your favourite salad items together, or just what you have available, drizzle with your favourite dressing, a drizzle of olive oil or a simple squeeze of lemon.

We love rocket, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, radish, sweetcorn and croutons topped with Caesar dressing and with a few fresh herbs added in but use what you and your family love. 

Chicken Salad

Claire's Crispy Aromatic Chicken & Pancakes

OK so this is a Chinese take away classic except it's with duck, but my sister-in-law Claire introduced us to this fab way of using up leftover roast chicken (it also works with pork) a few years ago and it is a favourite now. Literally add a little sesame oil to a pan and place on a low to medium heat, shred the chicken and coat in 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice and quickly fry to re-heat and coat the chicken in the Five Spice flavours. In the meantime, slice up cucumber, and spring onions, slice a red chilli, and knock out the jewels from a pomegranate too for a lovely texture, serve with warmed tortilla wraps, and some hoi sin (plum) sauce and scatter with sesame seeds if you have some handy.

Crispy Aromatic Chicken and Pancakes

Quick & Easy Chicken Quesadilla

Shred the chicken and add to a small bowl with 1/2 jar of tomato salsa, a tin of red kidney beans or black beans, some sweetcorn and a sliced, roasted red pepper - if you have some, add a few coriander leaves and mix . Grate some hard cheese such as Cheddar into another bowl. Place a tortilla wrap into a hot frying pan, cover 1 half with the chicken mixture, then some grated cheese and cover the filled half with the empty side of the tortilla and fry for 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve with some chunky guacamole (avocado, tomato, red chilli, coriander, lime juice, sea salt, crushed garlic). 

Quick Thai Green Chicken Curry

Fry off an onion, garlic and some fresh ginger if you have it in a little oil and then add 2 tbsp Thai Green Curry Paste and fry off for a minute or so. Add a tin of coconut milk, the chicken, and your choice of vegetables - mushrooms, courgette, aubergine, peppers and even green beans or peas work well. Elevate with a drop of fish sauce, a squeeze of lime and a few coriander leaves to serve. 

Vicky's Chicken Stew

My Mum's chicken stew was a family staple growing up and has had many variations over the years depending on who is cooking it - but the basis is the cooked chicken (and any bones in the broth for extra flavour), a couple of chopped carrots, a diced onion, a couple of sliced celery sticks, chopped potato and topped with chicken stock, and a bouquet garni or a few bay leaves, seasoned and left to cook away on the hob. I also like peas, pearl barley or lentils which thicken it up a bit and we sometimes have suet dumplings too. Mum used to put small pasta in our stew too and it was and still is, always served with buttered bread.  

Vicky's Chicken Stew

Chicken and Tomato Pasta

A simple tomato sauce of onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes and whichever herbs you might have to hand makes a great basis for a chicken pasta dish, add the cooked chicken once the sauce is done to warm through and add the cooked pasta (any shape is fine) to the pan with the sauce to cook a little, and spoon over 2tbsp of the pasta cooking water. 

Chicken and Tomato Pasta

Chicken Fried Rice

Fried rice requires cooked rice, and I find those pouches of Microwave rice to be the best option here. Add sesame oil to a wok or frying pan and heat, then fry off onion, garlic and if you have it, ginger, add a drop of soy then add any chopped vegetables you might want, such as peppers, mushrooms, peas, sweetcorn - most things work here. Fry off the veg then add the cooked rice and stir well. If you have them, add a teaspoon of Sriracha for some heat and cook through for five minutes. If it seems particularly dry, add a little chicken stock.

Chinese Style Roast Chicken

If you have a hankering for some Chinese food without heading to the local takeaway, this Chinese Style Roast Chicken is an all-round winner and makes a great change to a Sunday roast dinner.

You can serve with noodles, rice or some stir fried or steamed vegetables but I implore you to drizzle over the 'gravy' or chicken cooking juices left in the pan as they are simply packed full of flavour and utterly delicious.

Like most marinades, the flavour will intensify if you leave for a few hours, or overnight - however this works well too, if you impulsively decide to make the chicken and just throw it all together and on the bird before throwing into the oven; great for spur of the moment cooks like me.

The below is enough for a family of four for dinner and a couple of packed lunches the next day.

Chinese Style Roast Chicken

Here’s how:

• 1 large chicken
• Juice and zest of 2 limes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 4cm piece of ginger
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese Five Spice
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

Firstly turn the oven on to 200 degrees.

To prepare the marinade, peel and mince the garlic and add to a small bowl. Now peel the ginger, and either grate into the bowl or very finely slice and dice into tiny shards and add to the bowl.

Zest the limes into the bowl, then half them and squeeze in the juice, keeping the halved limes to one side.

Add the honey, soy sauce, shaoxing wine, sesame oil and Chinese five spice and give the marinade a stir.

Now take the chicken and using a sharp knife remove the legs and the wings and place ninto a roasting tin with the entire breast or crown of the chicken.

Pour the marinade over the whole chicken ensuring all of the skin gets a good coating. Now take the discarded lime halves and push them inside the chicken breast cavity.

Place the entire tin into the oven and roast at 200 degrees for 20 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and continue to roast for a further 40 minutes.

Every 10-15 minutes, remove the dish from the pan, and carefull baste with the juices in the pan. I use an oven glove to carefully tilt the dish and use a serving spoon to lift out the tin juices and pour over. This will help to keep the chicken moist and juicy.

After 60 minutes in the oven, remove and place on the hob and check to see if the chicken is cooked through. Use a fork or a skewer to pierce the chicken in both the thickest part of the breast and the thickest part of the leg; and as long as the juices run clear this is cooked.

The important thing now is to baste one last time with the juices in the pan, then carefully take out the chicken and place onto a plate and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes.

Also do not waste the chicken juices left at the bottom of the pan - whatever you are serving alongside the chicken, should be drizzled in this as it is packed full of flavour.

The gravy that must be used from Chinese Style Roast Chicken

Once fully rested, take each piece of chicken onto a board with a fork and a carving knife, carve into small slithers of delicious, juicy chicken. Try to ensure that each piece has a little of the skin for extra flavour. Once you have carved all you can, now grab another fork and use the two to pull off any remaining bits of chicken from the breast or leg bones and gently shred.

Serve with your choice of rice, noodles or vegetables. Enjoy!

Baby Bites Leftover Roast Chicken with Mashed Parsnip and Peas

This is a great toddler lunch for the day after cooking a roast chicken. Only a little chicken is needed and you can use up any veg that wasn't eaten the day before - or if that was all eaten do as I have done here and simply make some mashed parsnip with a drizzle of rapeseed oil and serve with some peas or any other vegetable of your choice.

Barely any cooking is needed here and as ever it's merely an idea for a lunch or evening meal for your little one once they are able to tolerate and chew meat.

Leftover Roast Chicken with Mashed Parsnip and Peas

Here's how:

• 50g leftover roast chicken
• 2 parsnips
• Drizzle rapeseed or vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp frozen or fresh peas

Firstly peel the parsnips and give a quick wash. Then place into a small saucepan and cover with water and place onto a medium heat. Bring to the boil and then place on a simmer for twenty minutes or until a fork easily goes through them.

If you wish to serve the chicken hot, then carve off what you need and shred or cut into bite sized pieces and place into a bowl and set aside.

Once the parsnips are ready to be mashed - place the chicken into the microwave for 2 minutes and then allow to stand and cool a little and place the peas onto cook in saucepan with some boiled water from the kettle. This will only take three to four minutes.

Now drain the parsnips and add about a teaspoon of rapeseed or vegetable oil and mash with a potato masher, ricer or just with a fork if you prefer to offer a chunkier texture.

Restorative Chicken Broth

Autumn is well under way and we’ll soon be in the icy grip of winter in London – as such our house has fallen victim to more than the odd case of the sniffle. Any sign of a cold, or worst, the flu and I immediately crave my Mum’s ‘Chicken Stew’ which was a stalwart mid-week dinner whilst growing up – full of vegetable goodness.

This is best, in my humble opinion, cooked using leftover roast chicken, preferably joints such as the legs, as the bones infuse plenty of chicken flavour into the broth and it is vastly improved by using fresh chicken stock. That said, I have in desperate times resorted to buying cooked chicken thighs and using shop-bought stock but I draw the line at stock cubes for this.

This version makes quite a thick broth, but if you prefer more liquid, perhaps to dip in doorsteps of bread, then up the stock by half.

My little girl who is still in the weaning process aged just over one, absolutely loves this too, although it can be messy as she doesn’t like to be spoon fed anymore and only likes to do this herself but what a great, healthy meal for her. 

Restorative Chicken Broth

Here’s how:

Leftover roast chicken – about 200g of meat is sufficient for 4-5 portions

• 2 large carrots
• 2 large parsnips
• 2 leeks
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 white onion
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• ½ red chilli
• 70g pearl barley
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 cloves
• Pinch black pepper
• 500ml-1 litre of fresh or shop-bought chicken stock (I like Morrison’s Signature version)

Firstly peel and chop the carrots, onion, ginger and parsnips and add to a large saucepan.

Peel and crush the garlic and finely slice the chilli, celery and leeks and also add these to the pan.

Using your hands, pull apart the chicken and add to the pan including the bones from the chicken, which you can remove once the meat falls off.

Then add the pearl barley, bay leaves, cloves and black pepper and top up with stock.

Place on a medium heat and slowly bring to boiling point then turn right down and cook for 40 minutes. The longer you cook the broth for, the better it will taste and the pearl barley will need at least 30 minutes cooking either way.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Mushroom Potato Pie

This is a favourite way of using up leftover roast chicken in a really lovely hearty dish, perfect now the colder nights are drawing in.

The potato topping means that once this goes into the oven too, you're free to do whatever needs doing or to simply relax for half hour too.

For this version I make a quick roux and add a little white wine but if you're short on time, you can make a sauce very quickly by gently frying the onions and garlic in a little oil, then adding 2-3 tablespoons of creme fraiche plus the tarragon which gives a really lovely creamy finish.

I serve with whatever vegetables I have to hand.

Here's how:

• Leftover roast chicken or some cooked chicken pieces 
• 100g mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons frozen peas
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1.5 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 tablespoon salted butter
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 100ml milk (I use semi skimmed) 
• 2 tablespoons white wine 
• 200g potatoes 
• 20g grated hard cheese (Cheddar or Parmesan is pefect) 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Firstly peel and wash the potatoes then place on to boil in some lightly salted water. Bring to the boil then simmer for fifteen to 20 minutes, until a fork would easily go through and they are ready to mash.

Whilst the potatoes are cooking shred the chicken and slice the mushrooms and place to one side. Also place the oven on to pre-heat at around 180 degrees.

Finely slice the onion and mince the garlic and add to a pan in a tiny bit of butter to soften. Next add the mushrooms and cook for about 30 seconds, turning them over with a wooden spoon. Now remove this mixture and place into a small bowl.

In the same pan melt the butter and once melted, add in the flour a little at a time, constantly stirring to create a smooth consistency.

Once all the flour has been absorbed, add the milk a little at a time and stir the whole time too, until all has been added and the sauce begins to take shape. Add the wine at this point and cook gently for five minutes.

Return the chicken and mushooms to the sauce and place the peas in too and stir to ensure the sauce coats everything nicely. Remove from the heat to mash the potatoes.

Drain the potatoes and shake in a colander then place back into the saucepan and return to the heat for a few seconds, giving the pan a little gentle shake to remove any remaining water.

Now add the olive oil and mash. You want it thick and fluffy and to keep a bit of it's shape so try and refrain from adding milk or butter. Once mashed, season the potatoes with salt and black pepper.

Now place the chicken and mushroom mixture into a small pie plate or dish and try to evenly distribute.

Spoon the mash on top and use the back of the spoon to smooth down. Then use a fork to make track lines, as you would with a shepherd’s pie. Then finally grate on the little bit of cheese just to help to brown the top and give one final delicious touch.

Place the dish onto a baking tray and then into the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with your choice of vegetables and a glass of the white wine you used in the sauce. Enjoy!

A London lunch: Albion, Boundary Street

Last week I had a short freelance position in the Shoreditch area and so was lucky enough to lunch with one of my very good PR friends, Hannah in the area. We had made plans to meet at Dishoom but when we arrived at the same time, Albion, was teeming with people dining al fresco in the glorious sunshine, and it looked so appealing we changed direction.

Part of the Boundary hotel and restaurant building, Albion is a Prescott & Conran design, and it shows. Pitted as a café, it is certainly a slicker operation that your average greasy spoon and every plate that rushed past us looked to contain something delicious.

As it was a fleeting lunch, we omitted the main menu in favour of something lighter – but I will certainly return to try some of the dishes, such as the fish pie, grilled mackerel with horseradish cream and pheasant and ham pie – all of which sound great.

Instead Hannah opted for the roast chicken, lettuce and mayonnaise sandwich which she enjoyed immensely. It was in fact a huge sandwich and certainly worth the £6.00 price tag. The chicken was cooked perfectly and the thick, crusty bread, which was made on the premises was fantastic – Hannah couldn’t manage the whole sandwich, so I had a little bite just to be sociable.

I fancied something hot and when I saw someone else having the Welsh rarebit, I was sold. On the same thick-cut, bread as Hannah’s sandwich, my cheese on toast was absolutely gorgeous. More of a cheese sauce then the usual grated stuff, it was a mature Cheddar (I enquired) mulshed into a kind of roux and topped with Worcester sauce and a good helping of black pepper. Priced at only £4.75, I thought it was a snip.

A lovely light lunch, great, friendly service and a sociable and happy atmosphere – if you haven’t already been, check out the Albion for lunch or brunch, and whilst you’re there make sure you have a nose at the on-site bakery.