Christmas Dinner with Hanna

Roast chicken with brussel sprouts, roast potatoes, parsnip and carrots, sausages wrapped in bacon, dates wrapped in bacon and dates filled with stilton

Ingredients for three people and left-overs:
1 whole chicken
1 carrot, small cubes
1/8 celeriac bulb, small cubes
1 apple, peeled and cubed
2 shallots, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
butter
salt
pepper
olive oil
white wine

600 g brussel sprouts, cleaned and sliced
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
pepper
icing sugar
Brühpulver
almond flakes
cream
curry powder

600 g potatoes, quartered
6 carrots, quartered
6 parsnips, quartered

Little sausages
bacon

9 dates, stones removed
bacon

9 dates, stones removed
stilton

How to make the chicken:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan. Put the olive oil, carrots, celeriac, apple, shallots and garlic in a dish that can be used in the oven and on the stove. Rub the chicken in butter, stuff some more butter between the breasts and the skin, salt and pepper the underside generously and sit the chicken breast side down on the vegetables. Put in the oven for 30 mins. Turn the chicken over, salt and pepper again, add about half a cup of white wine to the pan and return to the oven for a further 50-60 mins. Baste occasionally. When the chicken is done, take it out and wrap in aluminium foil. Put the dish on high heat, possibly add some water, salt, pepper, lemon etc. to taste and reduce until you have a nice gravy. You could mash the veggies roughly, or strain the gravy if you don't like the bits.

How to make the brussel sprouts:
Heat the olive oil and fry the brussels for a couple of minutes until they brown lightly. Add salt, pepper, sugar, Brühpulver and nutmeg. Add the lemon juice and a few spoonfuls of water, cover and simmer for about five minutes. Strain. Fry the almond flakes in a pan until they start to brown, add the brussels, some cream and seasoning.

How to make the roast veggies:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan. Boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes until soft on the outside but not yet on the inside. Strain and shake in the pot to rough up the edges. Put potatoes, carrots and parsnips on a baking sheet on a large tray with olive oil, salt, pepper, maybe some thyme or rosemary and bake for 1 hour. Turn the carrots and parsnips once or twice, but not the potatoes. Sprinkle with sea salt before serving.

How to make the sausages wrapped in bacon:
Wrap the sausages in bacon and put on top of the carrots and parsnips for the last half an hour.

How to make the dates:
Wrap bacon around the dates and grill for about 4 mins each side.
Fill the dates with stilton and grill for about 4 mins.