Roast Chicken Stuffed with Grapes and Almond

Ingredients:

- 1.8kg fresh chicken
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Sprinkling of salt and pepper

Stuffing:

- 3 tbs butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 rashers beef bacon, diced
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tbs tarragon
1/2 cup seedless grapes, halved
- Slivered almonds, toasted
- Salt and pepper to taste

Gravy

- 1/4 flour
-1/4 cup white wine
- 2 cups canned chicken stock
- 1/2 cup seedless grapes, halved
- Salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash chicken and pat dry. Pre- heat oven to 190C
2. To make stuffing, heat butter and stir fry onion, garlic and beef bacon gently till onion is softened. Add breadcrumbs and mix well. Remove from fire and stir in the rest of the stuffing ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spoon stuffing into cavity of chicken. Secure cavity with a small skewer. Tie drumsticks together so that the chicken will roast more evenly. Rub the whole chicken with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on roasting pan, breast side up- you can line the base of roasting pan with onion slices and/or leeks to act as a 'rack' for the roast. Cover breast area with foil so that it won't burn. 
4. Roast for 1 1/4hours to 1/1/2 hours, basting every 20 mins or so. Remove foil for 20 mins before end of roasting, To test if chicken is done, pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a think skewer-if juices run clear, it is cooked. 
5. Remove chicken from pan and allow to stand covered for 10 mins.
6. To make gravy, drain all but 1 tbs of fat from the roasting pan. Place pan over a low fire. When juices begin to sizzle add flour to make a smooth paste. Stir till paste browns, then add wine and stock. Mix well till sauce comes to a boil. Add grapes and simmer for 5 mins. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Slice chicken and place on a bed of salad leaves and grapes with grape almond stuffing and gravy on the side.

* I triple the recipes for the chicken. 

Roast Chicken

4.5-5lb Chicken

1. Put half stuffing under skin over breast by loosening skin from neck end.
2. Secure neck skin to keep stuffing in place- but leaver room for stuffing to expand.
3. Put other half in cavity (make sure cavity is properly cleaned out)
4. Make sure skin is dry then smear with 3oz butter. Season with salt and pepper
5. Lay chicken on its back in a roasting tin. Roast at 190C for 20 mins per pound (stuffed weight)+ an extra 20 mins if required.
6. Every 20mins baste with buttery juices to keep it moist.
7. Increase to 220C for the last 20mins to crisp the skin.

Bread and cranberry sauce

Bread sauce

1. Heat 1 pint of milk with 1 small onion thickly sliced. 
2. 1 stick of celery chopped, 1 carrot sliced, 6 cloves, 6 black peppercorns and 2 bay leaves and leave for flavours to develop. 
3. Strains pn 4oz fresh breadcrumbs, cook gently for 15 minutes. 
4. Add double cream, butter and salt to taste.

Cranberry sauce

1. Simmer a 205g jar cranberry sauce with 4oz cranberries and juice half an orange for 15 mins until tender. 

Roast Lamb

Ingredients:

• 1 bulb garlic, 3 cloves peeled and crushed, the others left whole
• 1 small bunch fresh rosemary, half the leaves removed and coarsely chopped, half in sprigs
• zest of 1 lemon
• olive oil
• 2 kg quality leg of lamb
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1.5 kg potatoes, peeled and cut in half

For the mint sauce

• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 pinches salt
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 3 tablespoons wine vinegar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºC/gas 6 and place a roasting dish for the potatoes on the bottom. 
2. Mix the crushed garlic, chopped rosemary, lemon zest and olive oil together. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and rub the marinade into it. Place on the hot bars of the oven above the tray. 
3. Boil the potatoes, simmer for 10 minutes and scuff the edges. Add the rosemary sprigs and whole garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper and drizzle over a good lug of olive oil. Tip the potatoes into the tray and place under the lamb to catch all the lovely juices. 

To make the mint sauce, mix the chopped mint, sugar, salt, hot water and wine vinegar.

1. Cook the lamb for about an hour and 15 minutes if you want it pink, or an hour and a half if you want it more well done. Take it out of the oven and cover with tinfoil and leave for 15 minutes before serving. Carve and serve with the potatoes and mint sauce.

Courtesy:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/lamb-recipes/best-roast-leg-of-lamb/

Christmas Cake with Royal Icing

Ingredients

• 1kg mixed dried fruits (any blend of raisins, sultanas, currants, mixed peel, dried cranberries, glacé cherries, chopped dried apricots, dates, dried figs or dried pineapple)
• 150ml sherry, brandy, rum or brewed tea, plus extra for feeding
• zest and juice 2 oranges, 2 lemons or 4 clementines
• 250g pack unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin
• 250g light, soft brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 200g plain flour
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• 100g whole or flaked almonds, chopped hazelnuts, walnuts or brazil nuts (optional)

Method

1. Put your chosen dried fruit mixture into a large bowl with your choice of alcohol or tea, citrus zest and juice. Mix well, cover and leave overnight.
2. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Butter and double-line a deep cake tin – 20cm round or 18cm square – with enough baking parchment to come about 2.5cm above the top of the tin. Wrap the outside of the tin with a few sheets of newspaper, securing with staples or string.
3. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy, then beat in the eggs one by one. Tip in the flour, mixed spice, soaked dried fruit and any liquid from the bowl, plus your chosen nuts, if using. Stir everything together, then scrape into the cake tin. Using the back of your spoon, make a slight dent in the centre of the mixture, then bake for 1½ hrs.
4. Reduce oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1, loosely cover the top of the cake with a double sheet of foil or baking parchment, and bake for another 45 mins-1 hr or until a skewer poked right to the bottom comes out clean. Cool in the tin, then lift out and wrap in greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Keep in a cake tin with a tight-fitting lid, or wrapped in a large sheet of foil, in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. Open the cake every week or two to feed by poking with a skewer in several places and dribbling over a little more of your chosen alcohol or tea.

courtesy:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/850633/asyoulikeit-christmas-cake

Royal Icing

Ingredients

 1 lb 2 oz (500 g) icing sugar, sifted

 3 large egg whites

 1 teaspoon glycerine

Method

1. Place the egg whites in a bowl, then stir in the icing sugar, a spoonful at a time, until the icing falls thickly from the spoon. 
2. At this stage, stop adding any more sugar and whisk with an electric whisk for 10 minutes or until the icing stands up in stiff peaks, then stir in the glycerine.

courtesy:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/party-food/accompaniment/royal-icing.html