How to make a roast chicken dinner

One of my friends at work is worrying as it’s her husband’s first Christmas without him family this year. She wants to make it special, but seeing as she is Jewish and can’t cook, she is really struggling.

So I wrote this to help her out and learn how to cook a roast chicken dinner, so I thought I would share. It’s actually easier than you think.

The key to a perfect roast dinner is... timing!

An average size chicken will take between 1.5 – 2 hours – check on the packet it should tell you, or ask butcher for the weight. As a general rule, calculate a cooking time of 20 minutes per pound of meat plus an additional 20 minutes at a temperature of 375ºF (190ºC). So a 5 lb chicken will need to be roasting in the oven for at least 1h 50 mins. A 5 lb bird will serve between 4 - 5 people.

Pre-heat oven to 375ºF (190ºC).

Make sure there is nothing inside the chicken – in the UK they sometimes leave the giblets in for people to cook with, but I’m not sure if they do that here or not. I had a friend once who forgot to check and roasted her chicken with a plastic packet of giblets in – how depressing would that be when you went to carve!!

Cut a large carrot (no need to peel) into quarters – i.e. in half long ways and across. Place the quarters flat surface down in the middle of a roasting pan (the metal dish with raised sides).

Cut an onion in half, again no need to peel. Put one half or both – dependent on the size of your bird – into the chicken cavity. Place the chicken on top of the quarters of carrots – these will raise-up the chicken slightly from the bottom of the pan. Drizzle olive oil over the chicken’s skin and rub over with your hands. Grind pepper and if you have some fresh time or tarragon (or both!) break up and sprinkle over the top – it will stick to the oil. Don’t put salt on it yet.

Include a cup of white wine (doesn’t matter what type) and a cup of water into the roasting dish. Break off a large piece of tinfoil to cover the chicken and roasting dish. Place into oven so it is in the middle of the oven – you might need to adjust the shelf. If it’s too high up it might burn.

**Look at the clock and make a note of the time.**

00.00 - The roast clock starts now!

00.30 - After 30 mins, take the chicken out flip back the tinfoil. Spoon (or a baster if you have one) the wine and water over the chicken, do this a few times. If the water looks like it’s disappearing put another half a cup in. Cover back over and put back into the oven.

Now for the roast spuds… some people think it only takes about 30 minutes to roast potatoes. They’re wrong. You want to allow the potatoes a good hour in the oven. Get good potatoes. At home we would use King Edwards or Maris Pipers, I don’t think you have them here so try and find an Idaho Russet.

I’m lazy when I cook, I can’t be bothered to peel and apparently the skin on potatoes is the best bit for you so I leave it on – but it’s personal choice. Once you’ve washed (and peeled if you prefer) your potatoes cut them into quarters and put into a pan for boiling. Boil until the potatoes start to “fall” i.e. they start looking a bit like they’re going to fall apart. If you leave the skin on, you can see the skin starting to fall away from the centre. It should take about 10 minutes, but don’t leave them too long or you’ll have mash! Drain the spuds and leave then in the colander with a teal towel over them.

01.00 – repeat spooning of the chicken – ooh err. Remove tinfoil, keep for later. Drizzle chicken skin with more olive oil and sprinkle with salt – best to use the rough salt. Put back into the oven.

Dependant on the size of the chicken - count backwards 30 minutes from the time you need to take the chicken out of the oven to work out when you need to put your spuds in. (Let’s base this recipe on a 5lb chicken).

I like to do my potatoes in olive oil, but if you want to go all out fancy for Christmas you can buy some goose fat. Either way you want to put the fat or oil (a nice lot to cover the bottom of the pan) into the pan and heat it in the oven for about 5 minutes. While that’s heating, pour the potatoes back into the pan they cooked in drizzle more olive oil over them. Add in some sprigs of Rosemary (preferable fresh) and some bashed garlic clothes – four or five. These again don’t need to be peeled, just bash them with the bottom of the knife or a rolling pin so you break the skin and they look a bit squashed. The secret of great roast spuds is to bash them up a bit. So put the lid on the pan and shake the spuds with the oil, rosemary, garlic and some salt and pepper around so they are coated in oil and the edges are roughed up.

01.20 - Take the pan out of the oven - be very careful as its hot fat. Place on a sturdy service – top of the oven is always good. Pour spuds into the pad – again careful it doesn’t splash. Use some tongs and turn the spuds in the hot oils so they are coated. Put the spuds into the oven

This is a good time to wash up any dishes you’ve accumulated so far so you don’t have such a big job at the end.

Now you can prepare your vegetables. I like carrots and broccoli. Peel and chop the carrots and put into a pan of water and leave with a lid on the stove. Break or cut the broccoli into small florets and put into a bowl on the side.

01.40 – use the tongs and turn the potatoes in the oil or fat. You want to make sure all the sides get crispy. Don’t worry if they haven’t started getting brown yet. If there are any spuds that look like they’re cooking more than others, just swap them over. Put back in the oven.

1.50 – take the chicken out. Push a knife or skewer into the chicken where the bones are i.e. in the joints of the leg and in the main breast. Pull the knife out and push against the chicken. The juice should run clear. If the juice looks slightly pink – don’t worry just pop back in for another 10 mins and repeat until juices run clear. When the chicken is ready to remove, move potatoes to centre of oven if they weren’t already.

Take a pan and tip the juice from the chicken roasting dish into it – you might need some help with this or if you have a baster you could use that. Once you have got all the juice, take the piece of tinfoil you removed earlier and cover the chicken leave on the side to rest. 

Add another cup of wine to the pan with the chicken juice and add a chicken stock cube. Reduce down (keep boiling until it gets thicker). Taste the gravy, add in some herbs or pepper if you think it needs something. Careful with adding salt as stock cubes are already salty. Use a whisk to help thicken. Keep your eye on it. Add a bit more wine if you need to.

2.00 - Check the potatoes. Turn them with the tongs as before.

You’ve got a bit of time to set the table. If you want to put the vegetables in dishes on the table, pop the dishes, gravy boat and your plates on top of the oven by the vent so they warm up.

If you’re having wine, open the bottle now.

2.10 - put the carrots on and ask the man of the house to come and carve the chicken (or leave until you are sat on the table if you want to be like the Griswolds.

2.15 – put the broccoli in the pan on top of the carrots – don’t worry if the water doesn’t cover them as they will steam. Put the gravy into the gravy boat. It’s good for the gravy to cool a little before you serve as it thickens. If it looks like there is a lot of fat from the chicken in the gravy, simply use a spoon or baster to skim the top and remove.

2.20 – check the carrots and stems of broccoli with a knife, it should glide in easily. Drain water and place into bowl. Take out potatoes and put into bowl serve with the bits of garlic as it looks nice.

2.21 – serve and enjoy!!