Tasty roast chicken

Aldi are offering free-range chickens for £4.99 at the moment. I like to buy whole chickens because I usually make them last for 3 meals and then I use the stock in a risotto (see recipe on Main course page).

I add flavour to the chicken with lemon, garlic and rosemary. I lift the skin over the breast (from the open end) and insert slivers of garlic and sprigs of rosemary. I put a couple of cloves of garlic inside the chicken, squeeze a lemon over the skin and put the used lemon halves inside, along with a few sprigs of rosemary. I use an oval Pyrex casserole dish with a lid (handed down from my Mum!), add some water to the bottom (to make a good amount of stock) and roast it slowly until the meat is ready to fall off the bone.

The first meal is usually a roast dinner with a leg each and plenty of veg. The next day we have cold sliced breast with salad and steamed or fried potatoes. The third meal can be a curry or pasta sauce made with all the bits of meat from underneath, on the wings, etc.