I don't buy organic chicken – the budget doesn't stretch to it – but I do buy pollo rural or pollo de corral, the yellow-skinned free-range birds you find in Spanish supermarkets. The colour comes from a cereal diet, possibly corn or possibly turmeric. Either way, they had more room to move than caged hens, which is something. I usually buy a whole bird, joint it, and freeze the pieces. Wings accumulate over weeks. The carcass and wing tips go into stock. The excess fat, skin and trimmings get cooked up for the dogs – rendered fat is retained. Everyone is happy.

This particular bird wasn't especially large, so I kept the two breasts as a crown. A chicken feast for one, one pan, potatoes and vegetables alongside, and a proper reduced gravy poured from my granny's old gravy boat.

Granny's gravy boat — reduced chicken stock with tomato purée and Dijon mustard – Casa Adora

INGREDIENTS

• 1 chicken crown (2 breasts on the bone)
• ½ leek, chopped, plus extra large pieces for roasting
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 stick celery, chopped
• Chicken fat for cooking
• 1 bay leaf
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Potatoes, quartered, skin on
• Olive oil
• Paprika
• White pepper
• Dried herbs of your choice
• Fresh parsley, chopped, to serve

For the stuffing:

• A few lardons, sautéed
• Celery, finely chopped
• Shallots, finely chopped
• Garlic, finely chopped
• Parsley stalks, finely chopped
• A little chilli
• Breadcrumbs
• Chicken fat

For the gravy:

• Chicken stock, reduced
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

How to Make Roast Chicken Crown with Stuffing

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
2. Make the stuffing — sauté the lardons, celery, shallots, garlic and parsley stalks in chicken fat. Add a little chilli and black pepper. Mix in the breadcrumbs. Allow to cool, then stuff under the skin of the crown.
3. Mix paprika, white pepper and dried herbs with a little chicken fat. Brush all over the crown.
4. Chop the leek, carrot and celery stick and make a bed in the roasting pan. Drizzle with chicken fat, add the bay leaf and a good grind of black pepper.
5. Place the crown over the vegetable bed. Surround with large pieces of leek and quartered skin-on potatoes. Brush the leeks and potatoes with olive oil.
6. Cover the pan with foil and roast for 1 hour.
7. Remove the foil and roast for a further 30 minutes until golden.
8. Meanwhile, reduce the chicken stock with the tomato purée and Dijon mustard to make a thick gravy.
9. Reheat the gravy and pour into your granny's old gravy boat. Scatter over fresh parsley, plate up, and serve.

The bread and gravy at the end of this roast chicken crown is not a tip — it is a promise. If you have sourdough and leftover gravy, use them. It is better than any dessert. If you enjoy roasting chicken, try the slow roast whole free-range chicken — the same unhurried approach, different cut.

FOOTNOTE

This roast chicken crown recipe is part of the Chicken Recipes hub — a complete collection of chicken and poultry recipes from Casa Adora and the road. Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures – The Flexible Chef.