my shopping mantra is simple first rely
on your senses
make sure whatever you're buying it
looks smells and really feels good
and if you get the chance taste it
before you buy it second
is to recognize that knowledge is
crucial the more you know about where
your ingredients come from and how they
produce
the better so ask lots of questions and
learn
you're never too old to learn from
experts and when it comes to buying
great birds
one person knows what to look for is
award-winning fifth generation master
butcher
danny lid gain poultry is a great meat
because there's many different types of
birds it's worth
tasting the variation of flavours
between different first to birds is
massive
turkey's a great lean meat that's
available all year round not just for
christmas
anybody who's worried about eating fatty
meats it's a really healthy
flavoursome meal game birds people don't
try them often enough
once they're shot they're hung up for a
little while but a few days at least
it means the meat's going to be more
tender it all adds flavor to the birds
we've got a wood pigeon and a red leg
partridge
both really good and cook really quickly
when you're buying a chicken some of the
things to look out for is obviously the
smell
and when you're smelling a good quality
chicken you can tell the difference
the skin's a nice white color and it
smells like a fresh chickeny smell
when you're buying from a good butcher
you'll find you tend to get the giblets
as well
which is basically the neck and other
organs this is great for making gravy
once you have cooked it you can use all
the offcuts for other things stir fries
curries pasta dishes save the bones use
the bones for stocks
and soups they're really packed full of
flavor
and remember there are lots of different
breeds of chicken all have different
characteristics
and flavors so shop around and find the
ones you love
here are three of my all-time favorites
the label anglais these come from an old
british breed
they've got smaller breasts but the
meat's delicious
the black leg a fantastic french variety
succulent with bags of flavour
and really meaty thighs and the pulley
divorce
this is the rolls royce of chickens rich
gamey and delicious
one for special occasions
i think people should maybe try and buy
less meat but aim for the best quality
you're only going to get out what you
put in
by putting the best quality into a dish
you're going to get the best results
my next recipe is an old classic roast
chicken but with a simple twist
it takes on a new life and is guaranteed
to impress
one of the things i love about cooking
and that keeps me excited after 25 years
behind the stove
is that there's always something new to
learn every day new ingredients
new techniques and new cuisines
start off with the stuffing it's amazing
how
exciting a stuffed roast chicken can be
because it keeps the chicken incredibly
moist
and gives a delicious texture inside the
bird
i'm going to start off with cured ceriso
this is a traditional spanish sausage
and it's garlicky spicy
incredibly meaty that gives a little bit
of sort of
richness to the stuffing get our chorizo
in
start cooking that down and getting all
those oils out
a little touch of olive oil in there to
get it going
right onions chopped
add the onions to the cerezo and in a
matter of seconds
they'll change color as they soak up all
the flavor
that lovely spiciness has been stolen
from that sausage now the onions smell
incredible
garlic garlicky
fresh thyme just hold it down and put
your fingers on there
and it's a really nice way of taking off
all those nice fragrant little time
flowers
you can hear it crackling in the
background
these are cannellini beans they're waxy
very soft and so delicious but very
dense
but for stuffing they're so robust
nothing breaks down drain them off
in they're going to take on all that
juice as well from the freezer
i'm going to season them now because
they're very dense so it needs some help
i mean that looks like it's a dish on
its own
good enough to eat now i want to sweeten
things up a little bit
tomatoes half dried in
that sweetens up the stuffing
beautiful the stuffing's ready look at
the color everything
looks spanish it looks delicious now
stuffing the chicken i like taking off
these little knuckles
as the chicken cooks the skin stretches
over the bone you can get a really nice
drum
and take off those little wingtips as
well salt pepper
so important now
you're stuffing i'm gonna go right
inside the chicken
push it down this really helps to cook
the bird evenly because you're
pushing out all the empty spaces in the
carcass
and take a nice large lemon push the
lemon in
pick up the person's nose pull the skin
over olive oil on top
salt and pepper
a teaspoon of paprika sprinkle it on
and then get your hands and sort of
rub that in and see what the paprika is
doing to the chicken
putting this like sweet spicy marinade
it's not even roasted yet but it looks
delicious
[Music]
400ml of white wine same quantity of
water
that helps the chicken to steam chicken
in
be generous with the time sprigs
[Music]
make sure the fall is folded tightly
around the roasting tray so the chicken
steams in the oven
keeping it moist and juicy into the oven
[Music]
cook for one hour at 180 degrees with a
foil on
nice take it out and remove the full lid
then give it another 30 minutes to crisp
up that skin
look at that it's so important
to make sure you take that tinfoil off
with half an hour to go
beautiful pierce that open squeeze it
in that delicious gravy mix that into
the tray
and sieve that
that's really nice fragrant lemony
spiced
roasting juices to finish before we cut
up the chicken
take out that amazing stuffing
[Music]
incredible i'd have that with chicken
over potatoes any day
and then just get your chicken roasting
juices
now to cut the chicken up
hold the drum and slice straight through
and there's a wonderful drum and a thigh
through the wishbone
off slice with the point at an angle so
you can see the texture
of that amazing roast chicken just take
my cooking juices just want to give a
nice sort of lemony
flavour over my chicken
and there you go a delicious
very charming stuffed roast chicken
you