The Vicar’s Wife’s Cook Book - Elisa Beynon

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switched roles (after many years in a parish he has now taken up the challenge of conference directing), but nevertheless, as I cook we still pour ourselves and, yes, really enjoy, a small glass of sherry.

      It’s easy to think that Sunday lunch has to mean hearty, steaming plates of red meat and crispy roast potatoes on cold, wet days, however, the warmer months still lend themselves to a good old Sunday feed-up – albeit cooked with a lighter touch. It’s time to leave behind the earthier flavours of winter and embrace the sprightlier tastes of spring: time to feast on Jersey Royals, hunt for baby broad beans and eschew nursery puddings for airier, berry-laden concoctions. Mind you, our so-called seasons can never be relied upon, so if, on a cold and rainy June day, a plate of roast beef and Yorkshire pud is just what the doctor ordered, then go right ahead and take your medicine …

       A lemony lunch

      This year the weather has been a hoot: it’s only just turned May and it’s as though spring has taken a sabbatical and the man behind the weather has fast-tracked us straight into summer. I dreamt up a suitable lunch for this climate – food full of zest and zing, lemons and light – so, brimming with anticipation, I woke up this morning, went downstairs, opened the front door and … it was cold. Freezing cold, in fact. Nevertheless, hopeless optimist that I am, I cooked what I had planned and, wonderfully, by the time that we had reached pudding, the sun had come out. Afterwards, as the Arsenal game kicked off, we all hung out of the front door and watched everyone troop past in the warmth. We even spotted a minor celebrity amongst the red-topped fray – and he smiled.

      

      

      I really enjoyed making this lunch, for one rather contemptible reason: it made me feel like the person I, regrettably, am not. That is a tidy, clean-up-as-you-go kind of person; an organised, calm, collected type of cook. For once, I felt this way because this lunch was so pleasurably easy to put together. So if you are naturally a messy little pig like me, make the following for a spritz of zen-like kitchen calm.

      

      

      The tart needs to be made first to allow time for it to chill: you could even make it the day before.

      

      

       SPRING-SCENTED CHICKEN

       HONEYED BABY CARROTS

       JERSEY ROYAL POTATOES IN CHIVES AND BUTTER

       A WARM SALAD OF SUMMERY BABY GREEN VEGETABLES

       LEMON AND RASPBERRY TART

      

      

      1 organic or free-range chicken, about 1.5kg

      1 lemon

      2 tablespoons lemon oil (or ordinary olive oil if you don’t have any)

      salt and pepper

      8 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole

      120ml white wine

      

      

      Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Take your bird, stuff 2 halves of a lemon up its bottom, and anoint its skin with 2 tablespoons of lemon oil and lots of salt and pepper. Pop it into a roasting tin, tummy-side down (that is, breast-side down). I like to start the bird off in this position as I am fanatical about the breast being as moist as possible, and laying the chicken this way down encourages the juices to run down into it. You will need to cook the chicken for around 20 minutes per 500g, plus 30 minutes. Do try and baste it as and when you remember, too. About halfway through the cooking time, turn the chicken over so it is tummy-side up.

      

      

      Meanwhile, take the garlic, put it in a pan of boiling water and let it bubble away for about 10 minutes or until soft. Drain, reserving the cooking water to make the sauce, and set aside. Add the garlic to the roasting tin with the chicken about 20 minutes before it comes out of the oven. When the chicken is done, lift it onto a big platter, cover it with foil, and put it somewhere warm to rest.

      

      

      For the light sauce, put the roasting tin on top of the stove and heat it until the meat juices that are left in it bubble frenetically, and scrape up any sticky bits stuck to the bottom with a wooden spoon. Crush most of the soft garlic down into the juices and add the white wine and about 120ml of the reserved vegetable/garlic water. Let it bubble away until it is reduced and well flavoured and then add salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm once it’s ready.

      

      

      about 250g baby carrots

      20g butter

      1 tablespoon runny honey

      salt and pepper

      

      

      Top and tail the baby carrots and parboil them in boiling, salted water for 5 minutes. Drain, keeping some of the cooking water and adding it to the reserved garlicky water from the chicken.

      

      

      Put the carrots into a small roasting tin, dot them with butter and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. When the chicken has 40 minutes left of its cooking time, put the carrots in the oven for around 50 minutes, drizzling them with the honey 5 minutes before they are done. This allows time for the carrots to finish cooking while the chicken rests, and gives you a chance to make the light sauce to go with it.

      

      

      500g Jersey Royals, washed thoroughly (I like the skins left on, but if you dislike that papery feel, scrub the potatoes thoroughly or peel them)

      30g butter

      2 tablespoons chives, chopped

      salt and pepper

      

      

      Put a pan of salted boiling water on top of the stove, add the potatoes and leave them to cook for 20–25 minutes, lid on. When they are cooked, drain them and put them back in the hot pan with the butter, chives and lots of salt and pepper.

      

      

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