Ingredients: Chicken, Marjoram, Parsley, Basil, Salt · 120 min cook time · 685kcal · ₩44,600
Ingredients
1whole Chicken, 1bunch Marjoram, 1bunch Parsley, 1bunch Basil, 1pinch Salt, 1pinch Pepper, 2lug Olive oil, 2slices Butter, 1whole Lemon, 1length Butcher's string, 1bulb Garlic, 2whole Red onion, 1heaped tablespoon Flour, 1cup Water, 4whole Eggs, 200ml Whole milk, 200g Plain flour, 1bottle Sunflower oil, 100g Smoked salmon, 100g Sour cream, 1root Fresh horseradish, 1bunch Dill, 1kg Maris Piper potatoes, 1bunch Rosemary, 1splash Vinegar, 1bunch Thyme, 2leaves Bay leaves, 1bunch Sage, 1whole Clementine zest
Instructions
1. Finely chop marjoram, parsley, and basil. Season with salt and pepper, then add a couple of lugs of olive oil and mix it up. The oil will help bring out all the natural flavors and oils from the herbs.
2. Run a knife around the top of the chicken legs and score the skin. Pop the ball joint and take the end of the chicken leg off. This will make the chicken look beautiful when cooked and roasted.
3. Put the chicken on its side and make three confident slices down to the bone on the thigh meat. This allows the flavored oil to get in there and helps the thigh meat cook at the same rate as the breast meat.
4. For the breast, carefully pull the skin towards you to avoid tearing it. Get your finger in between the skin and the breast to make a little pouch. Use a spatula to get right down there.
5. Divide the herbs by half and again, be careful not to tear the chicken skin. Get two slices of butter and ram them down the chicken breast. This will make your chicken breast juicier and the skin crispier.
6. Stab a hot lemon and put it inside the chicken. This is basically a boiling hot citrus time bomb that will help cook the chicken evenly.
7. Take a little bit of butcher's string, get it in half, and put it just under the legs. Take it up to the little notches and do a little knot. Tighten it up and go in between the breast and the legs. Turn it over, do another little knot, and it's just going to keep it in shape and mean you get a nice, neat, even cook.
8. Rub all the remnants of the oil and the herbs all over the chicken. Place the chicken in a tray with a whole bulb of garlic and two red onions cut in half.
9. Cook the chicken at 225°C (425°F) for 1 hour. It's going to be spectacular.
10. Once cooked, remove the chicken from the oven. You know it's done when you can pull the meat off the bone and the juices run nice and brown. Remove the onion and garlic skins.
11. Put the tray on the heat and add a heaped tablespoon of flour. Mush it all up. You don't even need stock. Just top it up with some water and bring that to the boil.
12. Sieve out all the chunks from the gravy. Take a little ladle and push it through. Bring it back up to the boil, and you're going to have an amazing gravy.
13. Carve up the chicken. First, run the knife around the back of the leg and just click it. It will just fall apart. Cut it across, giving you a beautiful drumstick and wonderful thigh meat.
14. If there are any little juices that come out, don't be afraid to pour those back into your gravy because it's all flavor. When it comes to the breast, take a nice little chunk. You can see the herbs underneath, the gorgeous crispy golden skin, and the breast meat is juicy.
15. Serve the chicken with the lovely gravy over the top. This is a classic roast chicken to savor and enjoy. The gravy is amazing, the skin is crispy, the herbs, and that juicy, juicy meat.
16. Take a big bowl and four fresh, free-range eggs. Whisk them up to get some nice air in there. Then, add 200ml of whole milk and 200g of plain flour. You can sift it to make it nice and light with no lumps.
17. Whisk up your batter until it's nice and whipped up. Add a little pinch of salt and nothing else. The mixture should just coat the back of a spoon.
18. Pour the batter from the bowl into a jug for easy pouring. Use sunflower oil, groundnut oil, or sunseed oil, as these can handle high heat. Pour 1cm of oil into each mold of a muffin tray.
19. Preheat the oven to 190°C (370°F). Place the muffin tray with oil in the oven for about 15 minutes to preheat the oil.
20. Carefully remove the preheated oil from the oven. Use a spoon to pour the batter into each mold, making sure the batter doesn't touch the sides. The hot oil will start to cook the batter on the outside, pushing it up the side to create lift.
21. Place the muffin tray back into the oven and close the door. Do not open the oven until the puddings are cooked. Cook for about 20-25 minutes until golden, crispy, and gorgeous.
22. Serve the perfect Yorkshire puddings. You can go bigger, but this size offers a good balance of crispiness and chewiness from the inside.
23. For a different topping, take some smoked salmon and put it onto a beautiful board or platter. To complement that, make a simple sauce with sour cream, yogurt, or crème fraîche. Beat it up and add the juice of one lemon.
24. Peel a fresh horseradish and grate it over the salmon like snow. This adds a contrast of fire and lightness. Mix the sauce up and add some dill from a height.
25. Load a freshly cooked, hot Yorkshire pudding with the hot sour cream and horseradish sauce, a nice bit of smoked salmon, and a quiet little moment to enjoy that beautiful combination.
26. For perfect roast potatoes, use Maris Piper potatoes. Parboil them for about 10 minutes in salted boiling water. Drain them and give them a bit of a toss in the colander to help fluff up the edges even more.
27. Next, you need the fat. Extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest option and will give you a lovely golden crunch. You could also use butter for a slightly thicker, sweeter crunch, or goose fat for the thickest crunch of all.
28. Always do them in a single layer in the roasting tray and give them a good season with salt and pepper. Cook for half an hour at about 190°C (370°F) until lightly golden.
29. After half an hour, the potatoes are ready for some masher magic. Increase the surface area of the potato on the bottom of the pan by going around and squashing them. This will make the ultimate roast potato.
30. Add the herbs now. If you put them in at the beginning, you get good flavor, but the herbs go black. If you put them in halfway through, you get much more of a perfume of the herbs. Use rosemary coated with a drop of olive oil and a splash of vinegar. The vinegar will cook away but give the potato a kick. Add some garlic.
31. This is about your personal touch, so put in what you like. You could also try thyme with garlic and bay, or even some sage, garlic, and clementine zest for another Christmassy twist.
32. Pop these back in the oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until perfect to your eye. After half an hour, you'll see those babies and taste them. They are the best roast potatoes in the world.