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Method

  1. Remember to remove your bird out of the packaging, pat dry and bring to room temperature.
  2. Preheat your oven to 200°C fan assisted or 215°C for ovens without a fan.
  3. Traditionally we cover the bird with dry cured streaky bacon and tie with butchers twine. Alternatively, simply massage some softened butter all over the bird, seasoned with sea salt, thyme leaves and cracked white pepper.
  4. Choose a heavy-based roasting tray, ideally with deep sides and handles for easy movement.
  5. Make a trivet by roughly chopping equal amounts of onion, carrot and celery (or our preferred choice of celeriac, the root of the celery) plus a bay leaf, sprig of thyme and a few black peppercorns. Another nice addition can be a few dried fruits such as prunes and fig popped into the bird's cavity.
  6. Place the bird breast up onto the trivet, which should line the base of the tray.
  7. Place in the centre of the oven and roast for 25 minutes, reaching a core temperature of minimum 63°C.
  8. Remove from the oven, put onto a clean tray and keep warm by covering with a sheet of tin foil. Rest for a minimum of 10 minutes before carving, leaving the roasted vegetables in the tray for the gravy.
  9. For the gravy, make up 350ml of Essential Cuisine chicken stock, then deglaze roasting tray with this stock stirring in all the caramelized juices from the tray. Next, pass through a fine sieve pushing all the juices from the vegetables into a clean saucepan. Bring to a simmer and thicken if required by whisking in a teaspoon of cornflour mixed with a little cold water and reduce till you reach a rich, glossy gravy.