Lazy Sunday cooking…..Chicken with garlic and lemon gravy, gnocchi with sage butter and glazed carrots

This is one of my fastest and easiest Sunday lunches and has the advantage of not only being very basic, but it really does taste good! You can leave the chicken pretty much undisturbed and the carrots and gnocchi will only take minutes to cook. You don’t have to make the lemon gravy if you don’t want to mess around, it tastes good without.

For the lemon roast chicken: You will need: 1 chicken, 1 tablespoon of butter, olive oil,  1 unwaxed lemon, a sprig of rosemary, 2 cloves of garlic, ½ pint chicken stock, small glass of white wine, 1 tablespoon of corn flour and a dash of cream. 4 rashers of bacon (optional)

 Loosen the skin above the breast of the chicken and slide the butter inside it, massaging it to get it as far down as possible. Then cut the unwaxed lemon in half and place along with the garlic and the rosemary inside the large cavity of the chicken.  Rub the outside of the chicken with a little oil and season with salt and pepper.

Cook chicken at 220C non fan/200C fan/gas mark 7 for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 190C/375F/gas mark 5 and allow 45 minutes per kg, plus 30 minutes. However, the real test of whether your chicken is cooked is if you stick a skewer in to the thigh joint and the juices run clear.  20 minutes  before the chicken is ready, place bacon on top if you wish and raise the temperature to Gas Mark 7, 220 degrees non-fan, 200 degrees fan.  Remove the lemon, garlic and rosemary from the chicken and leave with the cooking juices in the roasting pan.  Remove the chicken and leave for 30 minutes before serving.  Just before serving, place the roasting pan on the hob and on a medium heat stir the juices until they are brown and bubbling.( Don’t be tempted to squash the lemon too much or it will make your sauce too sharp!).  Remove the lemon, garlic and rosemary and add the corn flour, stirring rapidly. 

Add the wine and stock and allow to cook for a few minutes so that the flour cooks, and the alcohol doesn’t taste too raw. Add more water if too thick.   Set aside until you are ready to serve, heat at the last moment and add some cream.

Meanwhile, whilst your chicken is “resting”For the gnocchi: 1 packet ready-made gnocchi, 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of sage leaves,  salt and pepper to tast.  Place the butter in a wok or a frying pan.  When it is hot and bubbling add the sage and the gnocchi and pan fry stirring constantly, until the gnocchi are golden brown.  Add a sprinkle of sea salt taste and they are now ready to serve

For the carrots: Chantenay carrots: 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard.  Boil carrots in a saucepan for 5 minutes, then drain.  In the saucepan add 1 butter, 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and place back on the heat until it is bubbling.  Add the carrots and toss them in the mixture until they are well coated

All of these things are quite rich, so I also like to have just a very plain boiled or steamed green vegetable on the side, such as broccoli or green beans…and of course a large glass of sauvignon blanc!