Sunday Roast

You will need:
A Chicken, untied and at room temp - get it out of the fridge about 30 mins before cooking.
1 or 2 onions, cut into chunky slices - this will act as the chicken's resting place on the baking tray.
2 Clementine (or other orange citrus fruit), halved.
A few sprigs of fresh Thyme.
1 clove of Garlic, flattened slightly by squashing under the flat side of a knife with your palm.
Half a red pepper per person, cut into fat slices
A good glug (2 tablespoons-ish) of Olive oil
2 teaspoons of sweet Paprika per pepper
Salt

Method
Preheat the oven to 190oC (gas mark 5, 375 F). Lay out the onion slices, garlic & Thyme sprigs in the roasting dish & lay the chicken on top. Squish the Clementine juice over the chicken and then stuff the halves inside the cavity. Sprinkle the chicken with a little salt and put into a preheated oven and roast!

How long depends on the size of your chook, Delia says...

Roast for 20 minutes per lb (450 g) plus 10-20 minutes extra – this will be 1 hour and 50 minutes to 2 hours for a 5 lb (2.25 kg) bird. And then leave it to rest for 30 mins.

When you have 30 mins of cooking time left add the peppers (which you have tossed in the olive oil & paprika) to the roasting dish. Return to the oven and wait for delicious to happen!

Serve along side a mixed leaf salad dressed with balsamic vinegar or some roasted sweet spuds, or both.

Roasted Mushroon Soup

So I've been away from this for a while for a couple of reasons...Firstly, I moved into my first proper home (very exciting but properly run down, messy and time consuming) and promptly ripped out the (almost non-) existing kitchen. So for quite a while I have been eating out or using the microwave. Secondly, I have been studying for professional exams, so haven't had much time for more than setting the time on the microwave! But now I have a bit of a kitchen again and way more time, so expect to see more action here in the near future.

For a while I only had an oven, so was baking everything and anything and this is one of the triumphs. A silky and sumptuous, deeply comforting herby mushroom soup with cheesy garlic toasts.

Ingredients                                                                          

250g Chestnut Mushrooms, cleaned & quartered

2 cloves of Garlic                                                    

3 Shallots, peeled & halved                                  

4 stems of fresh Thyme                                               

A pinch of fresh Oregano leaves                                

1 tsp dried Sage                                                            

1 tbs Olive oil                                                           

A little Salt                                                                

1 cup of Chicken or Veg stock                             

Half a cup of Milk (full fat)                                     

4 slices of Bread (I used seeded Rye)

10g of Butter, soft 

A handful of fresh Parsley, finely chopped              

Grated Cheddar 

Method

1.    ROAST MUSHROOMS, GARLIC, SHALLOTS, HERBS WITH A LITTLE OIL & SALT @ 180 FOR 40 MINS.

2.    REMOVE THE GARLIC & BLITZ  THE OTHER ROASTED INGREDIENTS  IN A BLENDER WITH THE MILK & STOCK UNTIL SMOOTH           

3.    CHOP THE ROASTED GARLIC & MIX WITH THE BUTTER PARSLEY & CHEESE, THEN SPREAD ON BREAD & TOAST UNDER A MEDIUM GRILL UNTIL OOZY & BUBBLING.

Red currant clafoutinis

If you have never made Clafoutis before, now is the time to try. I had very low expectations if I'm honest, but I'm happy to report that it is... actually gorgeous. 

Half way between a soufflé and a pancake and pretty low effort. Any berry will do for this recipe, though you'll need to adjust the amount of sugar for the sour-ness of your fruit. Blueberries in particular would be beautiful.

Serve warm with some clotted cream or a velvety vanilla custard.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup golden castor sugar
• 1/2 cup milk - full fat
• Zest of a lemon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup corn flour
• 1 tablespoon brown butter
• Red currants 1/2 cup- doused in sugar
• Pinch of salt

Method

• Butter and sugar 4 ramekins.
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
• Combine sugar & flours In a bowl. Add salt, milk, egg & cooled melted butter, mix to a smooth batter.
• Arrange the red currants in the ramekins and pour batter over the top. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 25 mins or until well risen and golden on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool a little before dowsing in cream and putting in gob. They will sink but that's supposed to happen (honest) :)