Simple Summer Kitchen Supper

I have been loving this heatwave and over that boiling hot weekend we lay in the garden, played in the paddling pool and ate all our suppers outside as the sun went down. Bliss. I’m sharing a recipe for a simple summer Kitchen supper today as I’ve been very inspired by all this al-fresco dining. What’s been lovely about spending so much time at home is really using my new Kitchen (which you can see more of here) and trying to cook more. Summer is also a great time to try new recipes and be brave. My Kitchen was designed with family cooking and entertaining in mind- it’s such a nice part of our day and the design by British Standard (who made all the joinery) really allows the space to experiment! I’ve got worktops, sliding drawers, a nice big sink and cupboards for all sorts of uses…not to mention my fabulous Aga. Read on for a simple summer Kitchen supper recipe and pictures of me in action in my Kitchen!

We’ve particularly been enjoying growing our own vegetables, collecting anything and everything we can from the Kitchen garden and using it all in our cooking. Anything we can’t grow we’re buying from the farm shop or ordering from organic suppliers. One of our favourites is Daylesford; well-known for their organic produce that is all healthy and delicious. They have cafés all over London (and a gorgeous farm in Kingham, Gloucestershire)…I’ve been a fan of theirs for ages. This one-pot recipe for roast chicken is so easy and makes a very good weekday supper in the garden. It’s enough for six so depending on how many you’re feeding, there will be enough leftovers to make coronation chicken…yum!

Ingredients:

-1 whole organic chicken

-2 bulbs of quartered fennel

-A few good handfuls of medium Jersey Royal potatoes

-8 cloves of peeled garlic

-3 quartered shallots

-Thyme

-Half a lemon

-200ml white wine

-200ml organic chicken stock

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. Set a big casserole dish over a medium heat and add a glug of rapeseed (or other cooking) oil. Place the chicken in the dish and brown on all sides until golden. Set aside. Add the fennel, potatoes, garlic, shallots and half the handful of thyme to the dish. Put the lemon half into the chicken cavity with the rest of the thyme and then place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Pour over the wine and chicken stock. Put the casserole dish in the oven (with a lid on) for 30 minutes.

Remove the dish from the oven and season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Return to the oven (with the lid off) for another 20 minutes until the skin is golden. Remove the chicken and vegetables from the pan, cover with foil and rest. We ate this in the garden with a side salad and lots of rosé and for pudding had the Daylesford salted caramel brownie warmed in the Aga. Heaven.