You may have guessed from all the exclamation points there that I feel pretty strongly about chicken. I think it’s really easy, especially when cooking for 2 to get caught in a chicken fillet trap. Don’t do this! You are denying yourself the deliciousness of a whole chicken.

For me, nothing is nicer than a roast chicken, the house smells amazing, you know dinner is going to be delicious and you have the comfort of knowing you have chicken leftovers. Which brings me to my next point, aside from being delicious, nothing is more economical than a whole chicken. Even if only cooking for me and the chap I always buy a large chicken, knowing that I will get at least another dinner and a lunch from what is left. If I don’t have particular designs on the leftovers for the week, I’ll stash them in the freezer and there’s always some chicken ready to go into a pasta dish or even a sandwich for lunch.

This week however, I have definite designs for my chicken! There will be coronation chicken in my future, made all the more delicious with the moistness of the roast chicken. I’ll also do some kind of chicken fried rice, a dish which will be even speedier with the pre-cooked chicken.

This is how I roast my chicken for maximum flavour:

You will need:

• 2kg chicken
• 1/2 tbsp rapeseed/olive oil
• 2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks
• 2 sticks celery, chopped into large chunks
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped into 8ths leaving the root attached
• 1 bay leaf
• Sprig thyme
• You’ll note that I don’t put garlic or lemon into my chicken, this is so as not to spoil the flavour of whatever I plan to make with the leftovers

Take your chicken out of the fridge to come to room temp

Preheat your oven to 190c

Throw all your vegetables into the bottom of the roasting tray

Pat your chicken dry, rub with a little oil and season generously with salt and pepper

Put on top of the vegetables and put your herbs inside the carcass

Tent the dish with foil in the oven and set a timer for 1 1/2 hrs

After the 90mins take it out and turn your oven up to 220c, remove the foil and give the veggies a shake around – you will have a chicken that looks somewhat anemic but is really moist.

Put back into the oven, uncovered and set a timer for another 20 mins. Take it out and check that it’s cooked , either with a meat thermometer or pierce the fattest part of the leg with a skewer and look for clear juices. If it’s not put back in for another 5-10 and check again. When cooked remove to a board and cover with foil to rest for 15-20 mins and wrap the carrots and onion if you fancy eating them in foil.

Now for the best part of a chicken dinner – the gravy!

• Strain the roasting pan juices into a jug,scraping all the lovely brown bits
• Skim off most of the fat and discard, reserve about 1tbsp and put that into a small pot on medium heat, add about 1/2tbsp flour and cook for 1 -2 mins
• You’ll want a splash of alcohol at this point about 1/4 cup – white wine is good but I don’t really drink white so dry vermouth is what usually goes in (because I do drink martinis!)
• Stir that in and then add the tasty juices from the roasting pan and half a chicken stock cube to boost the chickeny flavour
• Simmer for 5 mins and check for seasoning

Serve with whatever veggies you fancy; preferably mash, super crispy roasties and something green for freshness – smothered in gravy of course