Sunday 6 March 2011

Roast chicken with leek and mustard mash


Ingredients
Chicken (reduced from £4 to £1.55)
2 large carrots (25p)
6 or 7 small red potatoes (from bag reduced from £1.25 to 35p) -10p
Leek (from bag of 3, reduced from £1 to 49p) - 15p
Butter
Olive oil
Lemon thyme from garden
Half lemon (left over)
Salt & pepper
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Rub a little olive oil into the skin of the chicken.  Season generously with freshly ground pepper and sea salt and thyme.  Squeeze the half lemon into the cavity, then thrust the lemon into the cavity.  Cover the chicken with tin foil and put into a preheated oven (180') for around 1.45mins.

Peel the potatoes and boil til cooked. 

Finely chop leeks and fry in butter til soft.

Mash potatoes with salt, pepper, heaped teaspoon of whole grain mustard, generous splash of milk, and butter.  Mix in the leeks and mash together.


Chop carrots into batons and put into the tray or dish that the chicken is being cooked in.  The juices from the chicken will coat the carrots.  Stir them often, and if they seem too dry add a little butter.  The lemon and fat from the chicken will almost caramelise the carrots, and the lemon thyme will help too.

Let the chicken rest when it's cooked, covered in foil to retain its heat.
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For a general timetable:
Chicken 1.45 hr
Carrots .40
Mash  .30
Leeks     .5-10

I kept the carrots and mash warm in the oven while the chicken was resting, and then served.

Total cost: £2.05 (served 2)