Jamie Oliver

Comfort Food

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The trouble with being sick, in flu season, is it opens you up to being more sick….so last weeks adventure turned into a second, third and then fourth virus.

Of course, we turn to comfort food when we're feeling low, and one of my favourites is a home cooked roast chicken.

I have a preference for the recipe from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food. Although I'm greedy so I cooked a a MUCH BIGGER chicken, which of course changes the cooking time. The best thing is eating the sticky amazing sacrificial carrots from the bottom of the pan.

In so many ways this is better than chicken soup….and the leftovers can be turned into all kinds of good things….like Chicken and Leek Pie, which is what I did with mine.

Perfect Roast Chicken

from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food, page 196

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken (at least 1.6kg – mine was 2.7kg)
  • 2 medium onions
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • 1 bulb of garlic
  • olive oil
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 lemon
  • a small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture (I used everything but the sage)

To prepare your chicken

Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat your oven to 240C. Chopped all the vegetables (unpeeled!) and break up the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled. Put all the vege and garlic into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird. Carefully prick the lemon all over; using the tip of a sharp knife, and put in the chickens cavity with the bunch of herbs.

To cook your chicken

Place the chicken on top of the roast vege in the roasting tray and put into the preheated oven. Turn the heat down to 200C and cook as per the chickens size. Put your roast veggies in around an hour before your chicken is done. Take your chicken out when it's cooked, and let rest covered in foil for 15minsnwhile you make your gravy.

Slice, and serve with delicious veggies and gravy.

 

Brownies, to make up for a long absence.

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I know. Its been a very long time. I've had a half written Valentines Day post for two months. But its too embarrassing to post it now.

What I find amazing is how quickly time can fly by. One minute your happily chowing down on chocolate brownies with your sister at Jamie's Italian, the next two months have past and you're finally able to share your own version of it.

We inhaled that brownie (we did share it). It was amazing. Dense, dark, chewy, with a crispy edge, and ice cream and chocolate sauce to make the perfect dessert.

And you can make it at home. Like I did. Twice so far. Jamie put it in one of his cookbooks (which is where I found it), and he also posted it online because he's a champion.

Heads up, it makes a LOT of chocolate brownie. We served it with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and chopped peanuts. How do you like yours?

Recipe is over here (we omitted the cherries and nuts, but next time…ahh third times the charm) but tell me, why aren't you already making this?