A roast chicken, for me and I suspect a good many of you too, is the smell of home. Of walking into my Mum’s house on a Sunday afternoon, ready to sit down at a table so laden with food you’d think another twenty people were due round for dinner. It’s an olfactory security blanket- the very best nostalgic comfort food going.

There’s really no bad way to serve roast chicken. With mashed potato and bacony-peas and a nutmeg-laced cheese sauce for total indulgence. Tossed in spices and served in wraps with salsa and guacamole. With full Sunday lunch regalia (Yorkshire’s included, because to hell with the beef-only tradition!). And at the very end of its life, when the scraps are all that remain, tossing them in a little barbecue sauce and adding them to the top of a homemade pizza is a fine way for any chicken to throw in the towel.

These recipes here are a few of my absolute favourites for midweek meals- a generously-proportioned chicken roasted early on in the week will easily stretch to all three of the recipes, and leave enough leftover chicken for a sandwich or two as well!

Thriftiness at its absolute finest.

How to make Truly Perfect Roast Chicken!

Ingredients
1 large chicken (the one pictured above was a little over 2 kilos)
1/2 lemon
4 garlic cloves
Pinch dried thyme
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt

- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

- Cut up the lemon half into 4 chunks, and give the garlic cloves a smash to release the flavour. Place all the lemon pieces and garlic cloves into the cavity of the chicken.

- Drizzle a coating of olive oil all over the chicken, then sprinkle over some Maldon sea salt and a pinch of dried thyme.

- Cover over the chicken in its roasting dish with tin foil, then place into the oven for 40 minutes. After the 40 minutes are up, remove the foil, and return the chicken to the oven for another 45 minutes.

- Once the chicken has had a total cooking time of 1 hour and 25 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside. Allow the bird to rest for AT LEAST 10 minutes, to make sure it stays lovely and juicy once carved!

Now, for the ‘three ways’…

O N E :: Roast chicken with garlic + lemon grains, & roasted butternut squash.

This recipe fits in so nicely with the timings for the roast chicken recipe listed above, I tend to make them at the same time! It makes such a tasty midweek dinner, or can be cooked and then portioned up for a couple of days worth of lunches.

Serves 2/3
Ingredients ::
200g (dried weight) grains of choice {our favourite is a blend of red + white quinoa, and bulgar wheat}
1 small butternut squash
1/2 tsp cumin
Two handfuls roasted chicken meat
Cooked lemon & garlic {saved from the roasted chicken recipe listed above}

- Chop the butternut squash into slices, drizzle them with olive oil, then sprinkle over the cumin and a pinch of sea salt.

- Place into the oven to roast for 45 minutes, during the second half of the chicken’s cooking time.

- When squash is tender, set it aside to cool along with the chicken, if roasting at the same time. Fish out the garlic and lemon from inside the chicken, and put the grains on to boil whilst the chicken rests.

- After 10 minutes or so, when the grains are cooked, drain and dress them in olive oil. Use a fork to scrape the softened lemon flesh off the rinds and smash the garlic cloves into a paste, and mix along with the lemon pulp into the cooked grains. It’s important to do this whilst the grains are still warm, so they absorb the flavour well!

- To serve, top the garlicky, lemony grains with a few slices of roasted squash, and a handful of shredded roast chicken.

T W O :: Superfood chicken Caesar salad.

Serves 2.
Ingredients ::
3/4 large handfuls of chopped kale
50g seeds + nuts {I used a mixture of roasted squash seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and some smashed almonds}.
1 large roast chicken breast, shredded
Caesar dressing to taste {homemade, or Cardinis is the best premade, we’ve found}
Fresh parmesan

- ‘Massage’ the kale for a minute or two to soften up the leaves. Toss in the shredded chicken, and the seeds and crushed almonds. {To roast the squash seeds, I simply dressed them in olive oil, salt, and smoked paprika, then placed them in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for 10 minutes until they puff up a little and turn ‘papery’}

- Dress the salad with Caeser dressing and use a peeler to grate in some flakes of parmesan, then allow the salad to sit for a couple of hours so that the kale softens up. I left mine in the fridge overnight before eating, and it tasted great!

T H R E E :: Roast chicken, leek & bacon pot pies.

Serves 2.
Ingredients ::
{For the pastry}
200g plain white flour
100g unsalted butter
Pinch salt
1 egg, to glaze

{For the filling}
6 rashers smoked bacon
3 large leeks
3 large handfuls shredded roast chicken meat
1 tbsp plain flour
Pinch of thyme
3 heaping tbsp creme fraiche
200ml chicken stock
Grating parmesan cheese

- Begin by adding the flour, cubed butter, and salt into a large bowl. Gradually add in iced cold water until the dough just comes together into a rough ball, then turn out onto a floured work surface.

- Roll the dough out into a long rectangle, then fold the bottom third into the centre, and the top third over the top of the bottom and middle thirds. {Step by step photographic instructions can be found HERE!} Turn the block of dough by 90 degrees, then repeat the rolling out and folding process 4 more times, until the dough has become smooth. Wrap in clingfilm, then chill in the fridge for an hour.

- Slice the bacon and cut leeks into rounds, then transfer to a large frying pan with a knob of butter and a drizzle of olive oil.

- Slowly cook the bacon and leeks on a low heat, so that the flavours meld and mingle without adding colour to the leeks. I added in a splash of white wine partway through cooking, but don’t worry if you’ve none to hand. We just had dregs in an old bottle lingering in the fridge that needed using up!

- When the leeks and bacon have cooked right down and turned soft, add in the shredded chicken meat, dried thyme, and tablespoon of plain flour. Stir to combine the flour well with the leeks and bacon.

- Turn the heat up to medium, then add in the creme fraiche and chicken stock. Allow to simmer and thicken for 5 minutes or so, then grate in some parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat off under the pan, and set aside.

- Roll out the pastry dough to about a centimetre thick, then stamp out rounds about a centimetre wider than the top of the pie dish. Fill each pie dish with filling and then press the pastry into the top of the dish, crimping the edges slightly as you go.

- Brush the tops with a little beaten egg, piece with a knife to let out steam, then transfer into an oven preheated to 200 degrees celsius for 35 minutes, or until the pastry is a rich golden colour. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes or so before digging in- we’ve wound up with burnt mouths more times than I’d care to admit from being to eager to dive in to these babies! ;)

As ever, I’m always so glad to see photos of your recipe recreations! Nothing makes me more excited! :) Find me on Twitter, and Instagram (@ciderwithrosieblog), and tag #ciderwithrosiecooks! :)