indi

I have mentioned before that my wonderful partner, Alain, is a sensational cook. He does most of the cooking in our house and we really do eat extraordinarily well.

I would like to start a kind of culinary diary for him and write up some of the great meals he has cooked as well as post menu ideas, recipes and cooking tips etc. I hope it will be of some interest to you nook cooks out there.

I will begin with one of our favorite meals. Your classic roast chicken.

I must preface this with a few words about attitude. Alain brings to his cooking, first and foremost a love for good food and a desire to love and nurture the people for whom he is cooking, even if it’s just himself. This can be difficult after a hard days work, when the kids are screaming and the house is a mess, but it is worth remembering why you are cooking beyond just getting food into bellies.

The second thing is that his attitude toward the food he is preparing is one of respect. If something has died in order to provide us with a meal then it deserves to be treated with some dignity. I know this sounds a little “hippyesque”, but believe me the difference between a steak that has been slapped around and thrown into a pan and one that has been treated with a little reverence is most decided.

Now back to the roast.

Alain only uses organic produce, despite what ACA and other TV shows will have you believe, you CAN tell the difference, particularly with meat! Organic chooks are easily available and will cost around $15- $20 depending on the size. If you think that is too much to pay for one meal, consider this; We roast a chicken, the next day use the leftover chicken in a salad, the next day boil the carcass for stock. One chook can give you the basis for three nights meals, which is actually pretty good value.

Start by prepping a few veggies - we always parboil potatoes (to cut down oven time and give those taties a really crunchy quality when cooked) drain them, but keep the water they were boiled in. Toss them in a little oil then place them in a heated roasting pan along with pumpkin pieces (skin on and coated in a little oil) and bung them in the top shelf of the oven - preheated to 190C.

Next wash the chook (they have been handled by a lot of people before they get to you) then place in a roasting dish and pour over some boiling water to melt the fat under the skin a little. Drain, then place the chicken on a lower shelf in the oven. Lots of recipes would have you cutting slits into the bird, but if you do that you will only lose all the lovely juices necessary to keep the meat tender.

If you have older kids, who are home before you, these first steps take about 20 mins and would be ideal for them to prepare. The luxury of walking into a house smelling of roasting chicken is beyond compare and all you have to do is steam some extra veggies and make the gravy.

At 180C - 190C, the average bird will take about an hour and ten to twenty minutes, and if your oven is anything like ours, you will need to rotate the dish after about half an hour to make sure it roasts evenly. When cooked remove it from the pan and allow to rest. Drain some of the fat from the pan and place on the stove top to make your gravy. Turn the oven up to 210C to really brown those potatoes and pumpkin

Please do not insult your chicken by using Gravox! Real gravy is easy to make and tastes a million times better. Heat the pan juices up and add some crushed garlic and cook for a few minutes. Then stir in about a tablespoon of flour, allow it to cook and brown - raw flour tastes yuckky. Little by little add the potato water you saved earlier stirring all the while until you have a nice smooth consistency. You can then leave the gravy to bubble away and reduce, stirring occasionally while you steam up any additional veggies you may want, to go with your taties and pumpkin. We generally have cabbage and carrot but last time Alain served up a taste sensation that blew me away! He roasted some hazelnuts for about 10 minutes and tossed them in with steamed brussel sprouts and a knob of butter. If you don’t like the old brussel, this may not be your thing but if you do- Oh My God- brussel sprouts and hazelnut - You will die happy!!!!

By the time you have done your veggies and gravy, the potatoes and pumpkin should be ready and there is very little else to do but serve and enjoy your meal.

Bon Appetit