roast chicken with black pudding and tomato jam

…a decent gravy is a thing of beauty isn’t it… I must be honest and say that I rarely bother because I normally have to consider vegetarian options and so usually plump for the easy route with a quick mix of stock and gravy powder and then pour in any of the juices, coming off whatever meat I have roasting, into a separate cup just for me… but when the good people at Mermaid Cookware sent me a wonderful hard-anodised roasting tin which is ideal as it is specifically created to withstand the transfer from oven to hob I simply had to give it a go… they even sent me this link to a very simple gravy tutorial  so I had no excuses.

… I do feel very spoilt this week as I also received an incredible delivery of very fine, quality meat from Westin Gourmet, a British on-line butcher who delivers fresh meat to the UK from their suppliers based in Smithfield Market… they sent me their First Time Visitor pack which as you can see from the link is packed to the gills with an outstanding selection of cuts of meat, sausages and a lovely corn-fed chicken… I feel very privileged to have been asked to become a Westin Gourmet quality checker to ensure the freshness of the product and quality of the packaging and i’m glad to report that the produce is exceptionally good and I was particularly impressed by the standard of the delivery… delivering to a small village in the middle of nowhere can be tricky at the best of times but the effort the delivery company went to to ensure I received the meat was second to none…

… so, lucky me and lucky you as you can expect some delicious recipes over the next few weeks…

roast chicken with black pudding and tomato jam
black pudding is all the rage now isn’t it… it’s very much a ‘marmite’ product I find and I tend to hang out with the ‘love it’ gang and quite frankly can’t get enough of the stuff… when roasted with other meats it tends to breakdown and make a very rich gravy, so perfect for this… plus it’s British Sausage Week this week and so i’m doing my bit in the way I know best… i’ve also used some of my tomato and chilli jam which has added a nice depth of flavour to everything…

1 medium corn-fed, free-range chicken
1 medium onion – roughly chopped
2 medium carrots – roughy chopped
1 black pudding sausage
6 garlic cloves
fresh rosemary and thyme
2 tablespoons tomato and chilli jam

for the gravy
1 tablespoon flou
a glug of white wine
half a pint of veg stock

– pre-heat the oven to 170C

– boil the kettle and then carefully pour the boiling water over the chicken in a bowl and leave it to sit, covered in the water for 5 mins

– place the vegetables in the bottom of your baking dish and lay the chicken on top, breast side down, place a few pieces of onion in the belly of the bird, season well and bake in the oven for 1 and a half hours, depending on the size of your chicken.  I turn my chicken onto it’s back half way through and pour on a little water from the kettle

– 15 mins before the end take the dish out of the oven and smother the bird in the tomato jam then place it back into the oven until done

– once golden and cooked, take the chicken out of the pan and set aside, covered in foil.

– place the pan, with the vegetables still in, onto a hot hob and throw in the flour and with a ballon whisk, stir around letting the flour cook and absorb all the lovely juices

– add the wine and continue to stir as it bubbles and then after a few mins throw in the stock and lt it bubble again for another couple of minutes

– now take a hand-blender and whiz the whole lot together into a thick gravy

eat and of course, enjoy!