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Roast chicken like chef Marcus Bean
When it comes to roasting a chicken, I like to lock in all the flavour by pot-roasting it. I start by seasoning the chicken inside and out, then brush all over with melted butter or olive oil. Then I heat a large casserole dish, put the chicken in the dish breast-side down and lightly brown the chicken on all sides for 15-20 mins, then remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same dish with the fat from the chicken, I then fry about 100g smoked bacon lardons, 10 sliced mushrooms, 10 crushed garlic cloves and 5 thyme sprigs, stirring together and cooking for 10 mins until the bacon is crisp and the mushrooms, softened. I then deglaze the pan with 400ml white wine and 600ml chicken stock, boil the liquid down by half, then add a couple of tablespoons of tomato purée, a pinch of sugar and season again. I then return the chicken to the pan breast-side up. Bring the sauce around it to the boil, then simmer, cover, and put the pan in the oven at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and cook for 60 mins.
Once cooked I leave it covered to rest for 10 mins, then bring the pan straight to the table to reveal a beautifully, succulent pot-roasted chicken.
Test kitchen secrets
Great custard can elevate a pudding, but how do you make it from scratch? Helena Busiakiewicz from our cookery team reveals all the secrets
When I was first learning to make custard, it was under an undue amount of stress. I was told that it could curdle and split “any second”, so, I watched it like a hawk, refusing to stop stirring for even a second. As I cooked it more frequently, I began to learn that custard is more hardy than I originally anticipated. When making crème anglaise – the thinnest, French-style custard – there are a few things to remember.
Custard begins by slowly adding scalded milk to a mixture of egg yolks, sugar and a starchy thickener, usually a mix of cornflour and plain flour. When adding the milk, it is important to do so gradually, using a whisk, so everything combines well. Once all the milk has been added, sieve it into a clean pan, to get rid of any eggy lumps that can affect the smoothness of your final result. You should use only egg yolks, rather than throwing in the whites as well – they contain lecithin, which brings a thickening quality. The addition of flour or cornflour means as the custa
