Timings guide to a Roast Chicken Dinner: meat and 5 veg!

Bizarrely, my latest favourite thing - despite not being a fan of celery - is to sit my chicken onto a bed of celery sticks before roasting.
I put a lemon, halved into the cavity along with a full bulb of garlic.
I rub olive oil into the chicken skin.
Then I roast, uncovered, at 200 degrees.

40 minutes before the bird is done, I baste it before adding diced par-boiled potatoes or celeriac around the bird. I swirl the chicken juice around all over the potatoes / celeriac.

If using potatoes (which are not low GI but I make an exception on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day),  only King Edwards will do. I boil them for 10 minutes first until the surface is a bit fluffy as this gives them nice crispy edges.

10 minutes later, (30 minutes before the bird is done) I add sliced fennel around the chicken and baste the whole lot again.

When everything is cooked, I remove the celeriac (or potatoes), celery and fennel, allow the chicken to rest whilst I make gravy from the juices in the roasting tin.  For the gravy, a glass of white wine and some stock give volume to the chicken juices and sticky brown bits which I am careful to scrape from the tin.

The celery tastes divine - it absorbs all of the chicken juice and is rich and delicious. The fennel tastes similar.

I usually serve with some steamed / lightly boiled carrot and broccoli and - on special occasions - a mini yorkshire pudding. It's amazing how many special occasions I have ;)

Here is a 'How To' timeline for a 1.6kg chicken to eat at 13.00h:

10.30: remove chicken from the fridge (it should be removed 30mins prior to cooking). Prepare the chicken (garlic and lemon in the cavity, olive oil on the skin). Put it in the roasting dish on top of a bed of celery (this can be 2 layers thick)

11.00: chicken in the oven at 200C

11.30 peel and dice the celeriac (or potatoes)

11.45 boil the celeriac / potatoes for 10 minutes until a bit soft. Whilst boiling, slice the fennel.

12.00 put the celeriac / potatoes in the roasting dish around the chicken and baste the chicken (spoon the juices up over the bird)

12.05 put the fennel into the roasting dish too.

12.25 peel and slice carrots and broccoli

12.35 simmer the carrots and broccoli for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the oven, but keep the veg in for a further 10 minutes.

12.45 I use ready made yorkshire puddings and this is when they go in the oven for 5 minutes.  Remove veg from the oven and from the roasting dish.  Make gravy.

12.50 remove yorkshire puddings from the oven and turn off the oven.

12.55 plate the food

13.00 serve


Goodbye Easter, it was fun :)