For most of us, the next couple of weeks will be fraught with exams (only one for me, but it’s worth 50 per cent) and then it’s really just a countdown to Christmas. That’s ages away though, and frankly, no-one would consult this page for Christmas dinner, so instead I have decided two simple but celebratory recipes that you could use if you wanted to mark the end of the school year.
Roast Chicken
This is wondrously simple but it always looks like a big deal. That is, no one is stopping you from getting a bucket of KFC and a bottle of tequila, but this looks a little more impressive.
Get a free range, corn-fed bird if you can. For the amount of times you actually eat a roast chicken it isn’t too expensive, and they aren’t that much dearer than the stringy frozen numbers.
1 x 1.5kg chicken
Salt
1 lemon
Butter and olive oil
Turn the oven to 220 C. Put the room temperature chook in a roasting dish and cut the lemon in half. Place half in the cavity of the chicken (i.e., the ass) and squeeze the juice of the other half of the lemon over the skin. Rub a little softened butter over the chicken and dribble with a little olive oil. Finally, dust over the barest sprinkle of salt. Bake for 1 1⁄4 hours or until the juices in the thigh run clear. Bada Bing.
To go with it there is nothing better than roast potatoes, and there is nothing better than this roast potato recipe.
I don’t give specific proportions because I don’t know how much you want to eat.
Ultimate Roast Potatoes
Floury potatoes
1-2 tablespoons of semolina (cheap, and can be found anywhere)
Olive oil
Peel the potatoes and chop into three or four bits, depending on size. Get a large roasting dish and pour in quite a lot of olive oil. Place into a 220 C oven to heat up while you get on with everything else. Put the potatoes into lightly salted cold water in a large pot and bring to the boil. Boil for about five minutes, then drain thoroughly in a colander. Tip them back into the empty saucepan and sprinkle the semolina over carefully, shaking the pot to get all potato surfaces covered. You don’t need too much semolina, so go easy. Now, carefully tip these potatoes into the preheated roasting tin and shake around a bit. Leave them in the oven to roast for about an hour. Eat with the chicken and any other vegetables if you can be bothered. Tequila optional.
I hope readers of this column have enjoyed and tried things out, as the recipes I have given you are honestly some of my most loved and most used. I’d also like to dedicate this page, and a slow clap, to my flatmates, who consist of a diabetic, a vegetarian, a celiac, a guy who lets the celiac cook for him, and a guy who eats nothing but steak and potatoes.