Years ago, there was a bit of a craze for self-saucing puddings, and every time I make this, I really think I ought to call it a self-saucing salad!
It's the most delightful feast for a Sunday lunch. Also, the roast chicken recipe is a family heirloom - an authentic, fragrant, and most glorious French poulet rôti, which will fill your kitchen with that particularly mouthwatering aroma of French market rotisserie chicken.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 free-range corn-fed whole chicken without giblets (about 1.6kg/31/21b)
- 2 onions
- 3 fresh bay leaves
- 5 garlic cloves
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 150g (51/40z) red camargue and wild rice mix
- 120g (4oz) best-quality cooking chorizo
- 2 corn cobs (ears)
- 120g (4oz) sugar snap peas
- 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander (cilantro) or flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tbsp finely chopped chives
- 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 quantity Aïoli (see p191)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan/400°F/Gas 6).
- Put the chicken in a large roasting pan and stuff the cavity with the onions, bay leaves, garlic, thyme, and rosemary. Drizzle the oil over the chicken and season well with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 2 hours.
- About 30 minutes before the end of the chicken's roasting time, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the rice according to the instructions on the pack (usually 25 minutes).
- Roast the chorizo in the oven (this usually takes 20 minutes but varies depending on the brand you are using).
- Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the corn cobs for 8 minutes. Drain and let cool, then use a sharp knife to slice the sweetcorn off the cob.
- Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the sugar snap peas for 3 minutes, then set aside to cool.
- To assemble the salad, pour the rice into a large, shallow serving dish and stir through the fresh herbs, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and sweetcorn.
- Slice the chorizo and add to the salad. Carve the chicken and drizzle with all the oniony juices from the roasting pan. Top the salad with the chicken and serve with big spoonfuls of aioli.
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