PERFECT LOOK RECIPES

1. Remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before you want to cook it, to let it come up to room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F/gas 9.
3. Wash and roughly chop the vegetables – there’s no need to peel them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled.
4. Pile all the veg, garlic and herbs into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with oil.
5. Drizzle the chicken with oil and season well with sea salt and black pepper, then rub all over the bird. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables.
6. Carefully prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife (if you have a microwave, you could pop the lemon in these for 40 seconds at this point as this will really bring out the flavour). Put the lemon inside the chicken’s cavity, with the bunch of herbs.
7. Place the tray in the oven, then turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook for 1 hour 20 minutes.
8. If you’re doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them – get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking.
9. Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them from burning.
10. When the chicken is cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so. Cover it with a layer of tin foil and a tea towel and leave aside while you make your gravy.
11. To carve your chicken, remove any string and take off the wings (break them up and add to your gravy, along with the veg trivet, for mega flavour). Carefully cut down between the leg and the breast. Cut through the joint and pull the leg off.
12. Repeat on the other side, then cut each leg between the thigh and the drumstick so you end up with four portions of dark meat. Place these on a serving platter.
13. You should now have a clear space to carve the rest of your chicken. Angle the knife along the breastbone and carve one side off, then the other.
14. When you get down to the fussy bits, just use your fingers to pull all the meat off, and turn the chicken over to get all the tasty, juicy bits from underneath. You should be left with a stripped carcass, and a platter full of lovely meat that you can serve with your piping hot gravy and some delicious roast veg.

Weigh the lamb and calculate the cooking time. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas mark 6.

Lay the leeks and halved onions over the base of a roasting tin. Rub the lamb with olive oil and sprinkle with the herbs. Season well and lift onto the vegetables.

Roast for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 170°C, fan 150°C, gas mark 5 and cook for a further 15 minutes per 500g. Add the garlic bulbs to the roasting tin.

Remove the joint from the oven and lift onto a carving platter. Cover with foil and a clean tea towel and leave to rest.

Remove the cooked vegetables and garlic from the roasting tin and drain off any fatty residues. Stir a little flour into the tin and gradually add water or stock and simmer over a low heat, stirring well until thickened to make a gravy.

Serve slices of the lamb with the gravy and roasted garlic bulbs, as well as your choice of seasonal vegetables. 

Cook's tip: The garlic takes on a fantastic sweet flavour when roasted like this. You can squeeze out the individual cloves and eat with the roast, or if you're not such a garlic fan, they just add a fantastic aroma and flavour to the roasted meat during cooking. They also look quite decorative on the platter too!

Weigh the lamb and calculate the cooking time. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas mark 6.

Lay the leeks and halved onions over the base of a roasting tin. Rub the lamb with olive oil and sprinkle with the herbs. Season well and lift onto the vegetables.

Roast for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 170°C, fan 150°C, gas mark 5 and cook for a further 15 minutes per 500g. Add the garlic bulbs to the roasting tin.

Remove the joint from the oven and lift onto a carving platter. Cover with foil and a clean tea towel and leave to rest.

Remove the cooked vegetables and garlic from the roasting tin and drain off any fatty residues. Stir a little flour into the tin and gradually add water or stock and simmer over a low heat, stirring well until thickened to make a gravy.

Serve slices of the lamb with the gravy and roasted garlic bulbs, as well as your choice of seasonal vegetables. 

Cook's tip: The garlic takes on a fantastic sweet flavour when roasted like this. You can squeeze out the individual cloves and eat with the roast, or if you're not such a garlic fan, they just add a fantastic aroma and flavour to the roasted meat during cooking. They also look quite decorative on the platter too!