Selaks National Roast Day: Sunday August 1, 2010

$20 Family Roast Chicken in a Bag

Size 14 chicken, pat dry

1 brown onion, peeled & roughly chopped

1 bulb garlic, smashed and cloves peeled

1 peel kept from an eaten mandarin

Handful fresh sage, torn

3 tbsp flour, dusted inside the roasting bag

4 tbsp barbeque or plum sauce

250ml Selaks Winemakers Favourite Chardonnay

3 tbsp butter, diced

4 carrots, peeled and cut into wedges lengthways

4 parsnips, peeled and cut into wedges lengthways

4 scrubbed potatoes, sliced into rounds

1 tbsp cornflour, mixed with a little water to make a paste

Pre-heat oven to 175oC, and flour the inside of a roasting bag, discarding any excess flour
In a mixing bowl, toss together the onion, garlic, mandarin peel and sage, and push this mixture inside the chicken cavity
Pour the barbeque/plum sauce and white wine into the bag, insert the chicken, and tie the bag
Smear butter over a tinfoil-lined roasting dish, place the chicken in the centre, and surround with the carrots, parsnips and potatoes. Season with sea salt
Cook the chicken for 1¼ hours. Check the vegetables during this time and if cooked, remove, keep warm and continue to cook the chicken
Over a strainer, pass the liquid from the bag into a saucepan. Skim the fat off the surface and bring to the boil. Lower heat and simmer for 3 minutes to reduce the sauce, then thicken with the cornflour to make a gravy
Serve the chicken with the roasted vegetables and the delicious, rich gravy

food by paul jobin