- 1 Chicken – up to 2 kilos
- 1 x red onion
- 2 x cloves of garlic
- 1 x stuffing mix
- Dried rosemary
- Sea salt and pepper
- 1 large potato per person or a few handfuls of new potatoes
- Flour(preferably wholemeal)
- LOTS of vegetables – green beans, broccoli, red cabbage, carrots – have at least four types
To ensure the chicken is extremely tender it is best to cook it on a low heat for a much longer time. I like to pop it in the oven at 11.00am and not eat it until 5.00pm. For this I keep it on a low heat of 150c but see how much time you have and adjust cooking times accordingly.
Directions
Cut the onion into large thick rings and place into the bottom of the cooking bowl/try that the chicken will be cooked in. Cut up the garlic and sprinkle over the onion. Place the chicken on top of the onion and garlic.
Mix up the stuffing mix with water and then stuff the chicken.
Sprinkle the chicken with some water then sprinkle a generous amount of dried rosemary over the chicken. Do the same with the salt and pepper. If you have some fresh sprigs of Rosemary place them in between the legs of the chicken.
Then pour in a couple of cups of water into the bowl (this again ensures that the chicken is cooks without getting dry) so that there is about 1 1/2 inches of water in the cooking bowl.
Then cover the chicken with foil and pop it in the oven to start cooking.
Wash and chop the potatoes and place in an oven proof dish. Drizzle with olive oil and generously sprinkle with dried rosemary, salt and pepper. Shake around so all the potatoes are covered then for the last 2 hours of cooking place in the oven (if you are cooking on a very low heat put the potatoes in earlier)
Half an hour before the chicken is ready to take out pull the chicken out of the oven and pour all of the juices into a bowl then take the foil of the chicken and put back into the oven – also take the foil off the potatoes so they brown and crisp up.
Next – either buy a gravy fat strainer and drain off the fat or place the bowl with the chicken juices into the freezer for 15 minutes so the fat solidifies and rises to the top – then you can just pour the juices – minus the fat out.
Wash and cut the vegetables and put the water onto boil.
Place 4-5 tablespoons of flour into a saucepan and add small amounts of water until you have a runny mixture with no lumps. Then add the fat free chicken juices and mix up. Add salt, pepper and place on the stove and keep whisking/stirring until the gravy starts to thicken up. By this time your water for the veggies will have boiled so place the carrots in first and don’t add the softer vegetables until the end. The aim is to have firm not soggy veggies – I only cook mine for 5 minutes max.
When the gravy in the pan has turned thick then add some of the water the veggies are cooking in into the gravy mix and keep adding until you have the gravy consistency you want. Taste and add salt if needed. I also like to add a little bit of stuffing to the gravy mix but you don’t need to.
Then you are nearly done. To make life easier I like to whip the chicken out of the oven, place on a plate and put directly on the dinner table for everyone to help themselves – same with the potatoes. Arrange all the vegetables on a big serving plate and put on the table. Pour the gravy into a serving bowl and add a spoon.
Too easy – and low in fat!
