insideKENT Magazine Issue 72 - March 2018 | Page 56

FOOD+DRINK
Easter Feasting …WITH A TWIST cont.
Alternative: Hot Cross Chicken (6)
MAIN
Ingredients:
• 1 medium chicken, around 1.5kg
• A little rapeseed, sunflower or olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 peeled onion
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the spelt or barley mix:
• 1tbsp rapeseed, sunflower or olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 150g pearled spelt or pearl barley, rinsed
• 50g raisins
• 1tsp ground mixed spice
• Zest of 1 lemon, plus half its juice
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Heat the oil for the spelt in a large saucepan over medium-low
heat. Add the onion and garlic, and fry gently for about 10 minutes
until soft. Stir in the spelt or barley, pour in 500ml water and bring
to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the
grain is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed: about
20 minutes for spelt, a bit more for barley. Remove from the heat
and stir in the raisins, spice, lemon zest and juice, and plenty of
salt and pepper.
Traditional: Roast Lamb with Spring Herb Crust (8)
Ingredients:
For the crumbs
• 100g good-quality white bread
• 2 garlic cloves
• Zest 1 lemon
• 1tsp thyme leaf, chopped
• Small bunch parsley, chopped
• 3-4 anchovy fillets, chopped
For the lamb:
• 5 carrots, cut into chunks
• 2 onions, cut into chunks
• 4 bay leaves
• Small bunch rosemary
• 2tbsp olive oil
• Large leg of lamb
(about 3kg/6lb 8oz)
• 3 garlic cloves, thickly sliced,
plus a whole bulb, halved
For the gravy:
• 5tbsp plain flour
• 200ml white wine, plus a splash
• 600ml lamb stock
Method:
1. Heat oven to 160°C. For the
lamb, scatter the vegetables, bay
leaves and a few rosemary sprigs
into a large roasting tin and
drizzle with the olive oil.
2. Use a sharp knife to make little
slits all over the lamb. Poke a slice
of garlic and a small sprig of
rosemary into each one. Sit the
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2. Heat the oven to 220°C. Untruss the chicken and pull its
legs away from its body a little to help hot air circulate. Brush it
with a little oil, then season well inside and out. Put the bay leaves
and onion inside the cavity, put the chicken in a roasting tray and
roast for 20 minutes. If your spelt or barley has cooled
down, reheat it gently: it should be hot when you add it to
the chicken dish.
lamb on top of the veg in the
roasting tin, add a splash of wine,
then cook for 2hrs if you like it
pink, or 2hrs 15 mins for cooked
through. 3. Baste the chicken, spoon the spelt or barley mixture all around
it and trickle 150ml water over the grain. Return the tray to the
oven, turn down the heat to 180°C and roast for 40 minutes. Turn
off the oven and leave the chicken inside with the door open for
20 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven, transfer
to a board and cover with foil,
then rest for 45 mins. 4. Take it out and check that it is cooked – the thickest part of the
meat, when pierced with a skewer, should release juices that run
clear with no trace of blood in them.
4. To make the gravy, pour off
most of the fat from the tin, but
leave the veg and any meat juices.
Place the tin on the heat to
caramelise the veg, then stir in
the flour and cook to a paste.
Gradually stir in the wine, cook
for 1 min, then stir in the stock
and simmer until you have a tasty
gravy. Push the gravy through a
sieve into a small pan and keep
warm. 5. Tip the chicken up, so any juices run into the spelt or barley.
Carve the chicken and serve with the spiced, fruity grains and
shredded greens or broccoli.
5. Turn oven up to 220°C. For the
crumbs, blitz everything in a food
processor and scatter over a tray.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 mins
until crisp, then re-blitz or break
up with your fingers to crumbs
again. These can be made in
advance and kept in an airtight
container for 2 days. Serve the
lamb carved into slices, sprinkled
with crumbs and a jug of gravy
alongside.