Sunday roast chicken with duck fat potatoes, pigs in blankets and roasted greens. It cannot be considered a quick meal, but the end result is worth the time and effort. Time needed: 3 hours.
Roast Chicken
Preheat oven to 180 Celsius. Rub onto chicken herbs and seasoning, feel free to shove some under the skin. We used rosemary, thyme, mint, salt and pepper. Some butter on top. Chop a few onions in half to prop up chicken on roasting tray. Cover whole tray with foil creating a gap between the foil and the chicken for the air to circulate. Roast for 30 mins per 500g, basting it every 30 mins to keep it moist. For the last 30 mins, remove the foil to brown chicken. (Our chicken was 2kg, hence 1.5 hours with foil, 30 mins without). Leave to stand for another 30 minutes wrapped in foil before carving and serving.
Gravy
The juices and grease from the roast should never be wasted! Skim the oil off and separate the juicy goodness from the oil (roast oil can actually be kept for future use). Pour juices into a saucepan and add a bit of liquid stock (depends how much gravy you want). Let it simmer and reduce, taste and season appropriately. Add flour to thicken. Serve whilst hot.
Duck Fat Potatoes
Skin/wash and chop potatoes to prefer size, and boil in lightly salted water till half cooked (when there is still resistance at the core when poking it). Grease roasting tray. Strain and scatter the potatoes. Spread duck fat uniformly over all (how much is discretionary). Shove into oven until crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside (this depends on how big your potatoes are).
Pigs in Blankets
Usually made by wrapping sausages in streaky bacon. I feel that its just as effective and cheaper to just buy sausage meat and wrap that instead. You may want to mince some onion and/or garlic into the sausage meat but its not essential. Size depends on how much meat and bacon you have. (Ours were similar to a pingpong ball). Shove in the oven for 20-30 minutes (vary for size). (This will slot in nicely with the last 30 minutes of the roast chicken. Juices from the pigs will also add to the roast juices.)
Roasted Greens
Cut capsicums and courgettes into strips. Onions into quarters. Sprinkle olive oil and herbs and shove in oven until cooked (i think 15-20 minutes).
