Chicken Roast Dinner (part 1!)

If you want to know how to do a really elegant and simple Roast Chicken Dinner, with all the timings written down, you're in the right place!

1. 1

   Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius fan oven, 200 for a normal one.
   
   Start with the vegetables and chicken.
   I cook mine in a lasagne dish, or roasting tray. I put my vegetables underneath it, and cook the chicken on top of them to add flavour.
   
   Peel and roughly chop the onions into half. Then cut each half into four segments. Scatter these into the tray.
   
   Roughly chop the swede into large 2cm chunks. Scatter these into the tray.
   
   There's no need to peel the carrots, just simply chop both ends off, then cut into 2cm chunks cut on the diagonal. Scatter these into the tray.
   
   Liberally drizzle the olive oil over your vege's, and dust with a little salt. Add about 1cm of water to the bottom of the tray. Just enough to cover the bottom. (this makes the base for your gravy! yum!)
   That's it for vegetables!
   
   Place your whole chicken onto the vege's.
   
   Chop one lemon into 8 segments and place some segments within the cavity of the chicken, some in the space between the wings/legs and the body until they're all used.
   
   Place the garlic gloves (with their skin) some in the space between the wings/legs and the body, and place some segments within the cavity of the chicken until they're all used.
   
   Use your fingers to pull the butter apart (must be room temperature!) and scatter this across the chicken.
   
   Cut the other lemon in half, then squeeze one half over the chicken. Be sure to try to catch the pips. The other half will be used later.
   
   Dust the chicken with a little sale and pepper.
   
   Your chicken will need approximately 85 mins to cook, if (1.35kg). Use a timer!
   
   Next, (85 mins left on the clock), it's time to start working on the roast potatoes.
   
   I use King Edward potatoes - they go lovely and fluffy on the inside and crisp on the outside! mmmm.
   
   I work on the basis of 5 or six chunks of potato per person. When cutting the potato, I always cut each potato into three, so that you get three triangle shapes. Start by cutting the right end at a 45 degree angle, pointing toward the middle. Then, whilst holding the whole potato including the bit you've just cut, mirror that cut on the other side, so that you get another triangle. This gives a good amount of surface area for your roasters.
   (80 mins left on the clock after chopping is complete)
   
   When you've done enough for your guests, place these into a saucepan of tap cold water. Heat until this starts to bubble (it normally takes about 10 minutes [70 minutes left on the clock]).
   
   Once boiling, turn the heat off. Leave the water in the saucepan, and set a timer for 10 mins. (60 minutes left on the clock)
   
   During this 10 minutes, put the duck/goose fat into your roast potato tin, and put this in the oven (on the top shelf!) for 10 minutes also. This will start to smoke.
   
   Once the timer goes off, instantly drain the potatoes. Leave for 2 minutes, drain again. Once drained fully, shake the pan so that the potatoes get nicely roughed. Add a sprinkling of sea salt and white pepper, and some flour. Shake the pan again to cover them all.
   
   Retrieve your roast potato tin from the hot oven, and place each potato in it (carefully) so that you don't get splashed. The potatoes should have a little room between them to breathe in the oven. Once all in, place in the oven on the top shelf.
   You will have approximately 55mins left on your clock at this point, this is enough time for fairly well-done and crispy potatoes.
   
   After 20 minutes, retrieve the chicken and vege from the oven. You will see that the butter has melted with the olive oil and water at the bottom. Using this stock, and a spoon or baster, baste the chicken with these juices, making sure to cover the whole chicken, legs and wings in the sauce.
   
   Grab the remaining half of the lemon and drizzle this over your chicken, making sure to catch the pips.
   
   Put the dish back in the oven for the remaining 35 mins.
   (Next see Part 2!)