Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham’s roast chicken
Serves 4
good butter 110g, at room temperature
free-range chicken 1.8 kg
salt and pepper
lemon 1
thyme or tarragon or a mixture of the two, several sprigs
garlic 1 clove, peeled and crushed
Preheat the oven to 230C/gas mark 8. Smear the butter with your hands all over the bird. Put the chicken in a roasting tin that will accommodate it with room to spare. Season liberally with salt and pepper and squeeze over the juice of the lemon. Put the herbs and garlic inside the cavity, together with the squeezed out lemon halves – this will add a fragrant lemony flavour to the finished dish.
Roast the chicken in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Baste, then turn the oven temperature down to 190C/gas mark 5 and roast for a further 30–45 minutes with further occasional basting. The bird should be golden brown all over with a crisp skin and have buttery, lemony juices of a nut-brown colour in the bottom of the tin.
Turn off the oven, leaving the door ajar, and leave the chicken to rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. This enables the flesh to relax gently, retaining the juices in the meat and ensuring easy, trouble-free carving and a moist bird.
Carve the bird to suit yourself; I like to do it in the roasting tin. I see no point in making a gravy in that old-fashioned English way with the roasting fat, flour and vegetable cooking water. With this roasting method, what you end up with in the tin is an amalgamation of butter, lemon juice and chicken juices. That’s all. lt is a perfect hom*ogenisation of fats and liquids. All it needs is a light whisk or a stir, and you have the most wonderful ‘gravy’ imaginable. If you wish to add extra flavour, you can scoop the garlic and herbs out of the chicken cavity, stir them into the gravy and heat through; strain before serving.
Another idea, popular with the Italians, is sometimes known as “wet-roasting”. Pour some white wine or a little chicken stock, or both, or even just water around the bottom of the tin at the beginning of cooking. This will produce more of a sauce and can be enriched further to produce altogether different results. For example, you can add chopped tomatoes, diced bacon, cream, endless different herbs, mushrooms, spring vegetables, spices – particularly saffron and ginger – or anything else that you fancy. For me, the simple roast bird is the best, but it is useful to know how much further you can go when roasting a chicken.
From Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham (Ebury Press, RRP £14.99). Click here to buy it from the Guardian Bookshop for £11.99
Sabrina Ghayour’s chicken bastilla
Serves 6
onions 1kg, diced
olive oil
fresh root ginger 7.5cm piece, peeled and finely grated
ground cinnamon 1 heaped tsp, plus extra to garnish
ground mace ½ tsp
ground nutmeg ½ tsp
caster sugar 1 tbsp
dates large handful, pitted, finely chopped
pre-roasted chicken 1 medium (about 2kg), meat finely shredded
pine nuts 75g, toasted
eggs 7 large (6 hard boiled and roughly chopped, 1 separated, the white lightly beaten)
flat leaf parsley 1 x 20g packet, stalks and leaves finely chopped
coriander 1 x 20g packet, stalks and leaves finely chopped
clear honey 2 tbsp
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
filo pastry 6 sheets (1 packet), each measuring roughly 48 x 26cm
icing sugar to dust
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with nonstick baking paper.
Fry the onions in a generous amount of olive oil in a large frying pan set over a medium heat, stirring regularly to encourage them to caramelise and prevent burning. Once they are brown (not burnt!) and sticky, add the ginger, dry spices, caster sugar, and dates and stir the mixture well. Cook until any liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Put the shredded chicken into a large bowl with the pine nuts, chopped egg, parsley and coriander and mix together. Add the fried onion mixture and honey and give everything another good mix. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Cut each filo pastry sheet in half to make 2 squares. Take 2 squares and overlap them to create a star shape. Divide the mixture into 6 portions, then pile 1 portion into the centre of the pastry star. Pat it down to form a flat round disc (not too wide, so that you can still seal the pastry edges around the stuffing), then brush the exposed edges of pastry with the beaten egg white. Bring the points of the pastry in towards the centre one by one and brush each overlap of pastry with a little beaten egg white as you go to secure, until the final flap closes the pastry parcel.
Brush with a little more egg white to seal the parcel. Turn the bastilla over and place it onto the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pastry squares and stuffing to create 6 bastilla. Brush the tops and sides of the pastry with egg yolk, then bake for 20–22 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove the bastilla from the oven and, while still hot, dust each with icing sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
From Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour (Mitchell Beazley, RRP £25.00). Click here to buy it from the Guardian Bookshop for £18.99
Helen Willinsky’s authentic Jamaican jerk chicken
This marinade is thicker than most. The flavour may strike you as a bit harsh when you make it, but I assure you, the flavours will blend and mellow as the meat cooks.
Serves 6
chickens 2 (about 3½ pounds each), cut into serving pieces
jerk marinade 700ml (see below)
For the jerk marinade
(makes about 350ml; enough for about 4 pounds of meat
yellow onion 1, finely chopped
spring onions 25g, finely chopped
fresh thyme leaves 2 tsp
salt 1 tsp
sugar 2 tsp
ground Jamaican allspice 1 tsp
ground nutmeg ½ tsp
ground cinnamon ½ tsp
habanero, jalapeño, or serrano chili 1, chopped
freshly ground black pepper 1 tsp
soy sauce 3 tbsp
vegetable oil 1 tbsp
cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar 1 tbsp
For the marinade, in a blender or food processor, combine all the ingredients and process until smooth. Store any leftover marinade in the fridge in a tightly closed jar for about 1 month.
Put the chicken in a large dish and pour over about 500ml of the marinade. Turn the chicken pieces over to coat them completely, cover, and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.
For authentic flavour, build a low fire in a charcoal grill with a combination of charcoal and pimento wood and hold the temperature around 110C. If you don’t have pimento , substitute apple wood or hickory, or use all charcoal.
If using a gas grill, preheat to 110 to 120C. Place the chicken pieces on the grill, skin side down. This will grease the grill and prevent the chicken from sticking. Cover the grill and cook the chicken, basting frequently with the remaining 200ml marinade and turning every 10 minutes or so, for 1½ to 2 hours. The chicken is done when the flesh feels firm and the juices run clear when the meat is pricked with a fork, and the internal temperature is 70C.
From Jerk from Jamaica by Helen Willinsky (Ten Speed Press)
Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer’s gundi
Makes 16 dumplings, which sould be enough for 4-6 people
For the soup
chicken wings 8–10 (about 600g)
dried Persian limes 3, cut in half
celery stalks 4, whole
carrots 2, peeled and cut in half lengthways
onion 1, peeled and halved
whole peppercorns 1 tsp
whole fennel seeds 1 tsp
whole coriander seeds 1 tsp
ground turmeric 1 tsp
salt 2 tsp
water 3 litres
For the dumplings
minced chicken thighs 500g
onions 3, peeled and pureed in a food processor or grated (about 300g)
gram (chickpea) flour 100g
vegetable oil 60ml
ground cardamom pods 1 tsp
ground cumin 1 tsp
turmeric 1 tsp
salt 1 tsp
white pepper ½ tsp
soft herbs, leaves and edible flowers (to serve)
Place all the soup ingredients in a very large saucepan and bring to the boil. Skim and reduce the heat to a constant simmer. Partially cover the pot and cook for an hour, then turn off the heat and leave for another hour to allow all the flavours to come together. Strain the soup – retain the liquid, discard the vegetables, and the wings can go to a cat you like. Return the liquid to a large pan.
Mix the dumpling ingredients together to form a very soft, wet and squidgy dough. Use wet hands to divide it and form into rough ball shapes of 60g each. Chill for at least an hour in the fridge.
Bring the broth back to the boil, then with damp hands re-form the dumplings into balls and carefully drop them in, making sure they are fully submerged. Return to the boil, then lower the heat, cover the pot and let it simmer for about 50 minutes, during which time the balls will expand and go really fluffy.
We serve three per person with some of the soup and lots of picked soft herbs; dill, chervil, celery leaves, coriander, mint and edible flowers; you can use any or all, and finely sliced radishes for authentic freshness and crunch.
From Honey & Co: Food From the Middle East by Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer (Saltyard Books, RRP £25). Click here to buy it from the Guardian Bookshop for £18.99
Charles Phan’s pho ga: chicken noodle soup
Serves 6
whole chicken 1.35kg
whole spring onions 6
ginger 1 thumb-sized piece, crushed
sea salt 1 tbsp
chicken stock 3 litres
fish sauce, for seasoning
packet of dried rice vermicelli 450g, cooked according to packet instructions
spring onions 1 bunch, trimmed and thinly sliced
coriander 1 bunch, chopped
crispy fried shallots (see below)
Garnishes
Thai basil sprigs
bean sprouts
limes cut into wedges
Jalapeño chillies, stemmed and thinly sliced into rings
Crispy fried shallots (makes about 125g)
shallots 4 large, thinly sliced
rapeseed oil 480ml
For the crispy fried shallots, in a small pan, heat the oil over a medium high heat until it registers 135Con a thermometer. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until light golden brown, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shallots to a plate lined with kitchen towel to drain.
Increase the heat to high and place a fine mesh sieve over a heatproof bowl. When the oil registers 180C/gas mark 4 on the thermometer, add the once-fried shallots and cook until crispy and well-browned, just 1–2 seconds; don’t let them burn.
Immediately pour the oil and shallots through the sieve to stop the cooking, then transfer the shallots to a plate lined with kitchen towel. Reserve the oil for another use. The shallots will keep, stored in an airtight container, for a day, but they’re best eaten the day they are made.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil over a high heat. Add the chicken, spring onions, ginger and salt and boil for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover and let stand for 15 minutes.
If your chicken is larger than required, let it stand 10 minutes longer.
Just before the chicken is ready, prepare a large ice-water bath. When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan (discarding the cooking liquid) and immediately submerge it in the ice-water bath, which will stop the cooking and give the meat a firmer texture. Keep it there for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cool enough to handle easily, remove from the water, and pat dry. Pull the chicken meat from the bones, discarding the bones and skin. Shred the meat with your fingers; you should have about 900g. (This step can be done a day ahead.)
In a large saucepan, bring the stock to the boil over a high heat. Taste for seasoning and add fish sauce, if needed.
Arrange the basil, bean sprouts, lime wedges and chillies on a platter and place on the table.
Divide the rice noodles evenly among warmed soup bowls. Top each serving with about 150g of the shredded chicken, then divide the spring onions and coriander evenly among the bowls. Ladle the hot stock over the top, dividing it evenly, and sprinkle with the fried shallots. Serve immediately, accompanied with the garnishes.
From Vietnamese Home Cooking by Charles Phan (Jacqui Small, RRP £30). Click here to buy it from the Guardian Bookshop for £24
