Sticky Balsamic Roasted Chicken

Truly, at my most rundown and spent and just plain wearied... It's then that I find myself struck with an insatiable craving, desperate for food for the soul...

And sometimes, well there's nothing else for it... It's gotta be a roast chicken!

For all it never tastes quite like Mum's... A gal can try!

What you’ll need:

A whole chicken, preferably free range or organic

3 tablespoons of white balsamic

2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

A handful of thyme, ideally freshly picked from the garden

The juice of 1 lemon

A punnet of button mushrooms

3-4 carrots, depending on size

A punnet of courgettes

Olive oil for the vegetables

Prepare a marinade for the chicken with the mustard, white balsamic, lemon juice and brown sugar. Place the chicken in a relatively snug bowl and leave it to marinade for 3 to 4 hours, turning every 40 minutes or so.

When those hours are up, preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. With a sharp knife, make incisions into the chicken and stuff the pockets you’ve created with the fragrant thyme. I usually place the chicken in a roasting pan and straight into the oven it goes while it’s still preheating.

Now it’s time to get onto the vegetables. Cut the courgettes and carrots up into bite sized chunks. The mushrooms I like to leave whole. There are few things I find more appetizing on a plate than whole roasted mushrooms! Once the chicken has been in the oven for roughly 20 minutes, add your vegetables and give them a generous coating of olive oil.

Turn the chicken regularly to ensure it’s nicely browned all around.

If I’m honest, I’d have to say I seldom work with timers in my kitchen....

Sticky, crispy chicken skin and the prod of a fork in a chunk of carrot tells me all I need to know!

And with each and every juicy morsel, my soul sings once more...

Cafe Fiasco by Emma Howell