Sunday Roast Chicken & Vegetables

📝 Ingredients

• 1 whole oven-ready chicken (1.4 kg)
• 800 g waxy potatoes
• 4 carrots
• 2 turnips
• 2 brown onions
• 8 garlic cloves
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 200 ml hot water
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large ovenproof dish
• Peeler
• Cutting board and knife
• Large spoon
• Kitchen paper
• Aluminium foil

📖 Steps

1. Take the chicken out of the fridge while you prepare the vegetables: meat that isn't fridge-cold cooks more evenly. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Dissolve the stock cube in 200 ml hot water.
2. Peel the potatoes, carrots, turnips and onions. Cut the potatoes and turnips into large 4 to 5 cm chunks, the carrots into 4 cm lengths and the onions into wedges: pieces of the same size cook in the same time.
3. Put the vegetables in the dish with the whole unpeeled garlic cloves, 1 tbsp olive oil, half the thyme, and some salt and pepper. Toss with your hands to coat well, then spread out in a single layer.
4. Pat the chicken skin dry with kitchen paper: dry skin browns better. Cut the lemon in half and tuck it into the cavity of the chicken with the rest of the thyme. Brush the skin with 1 tbsp oil, then season generously with salt and pepper.
5. Place the chicken breast-side up in the middle of the vegetables and pour the stock around it, without wetting the skin. Roast for 1 h 15 at 200 °C on the middle shelf.
6. Every 20 minutes, baste the chicken with the juices from the dish using a large spoon and stir the vegetables so they turn soft and sticky without burning. If the bottom of the dish dries out, add a little water; if the skin browns too quickly, cover it with foil.
7. Check it's cooked: pierce the thigh at its thickest point; the juices that run out should be clear, not pink. The vegetables should be meltingly tender and caramelised at the edges. If not, cook for another 10 minutes.
8. Take the chicken out, cover it with a sheet of foil and leave it to rest on a board for 10 minutes: the meat will stay juicy. Meanwhile, put the vegetables back in the switched-off oven to keep warm.
9. Carve the chicken: remove the legs at the joint, then cut the breasts away along the breastbone. Remove the skin for a lighter version. Serve with the vegetables, the soft roasted garlic to squeeze out of its skin and a little of the juices.