Penne wise
Former roofer Ian Bursnall, author of new cookbook The Skint Cook, is a pro at making sure your home cooking doesn’t break the bank but is rich in flavour.
Garlic and herb roast butter chicken with pan gravy
“Pushing the garlic and herb butter under the chicken skin is a great way to not only add flavour, but to keep the meat nice and juicy. Use your imagination and put your own spin on it,” says Ian Bursnall. His top piece of advice? “I would highly recommend investing in a meat thermometer. You’ll have juicy meat every time.”
Serves 4. Ingredients: 1 onion, quartered; 5 garlic cloves, skin on, smashed; 2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks; 3-4 sprigs of thyme; 1 medium oven-ready chicken, around 1.5kg; boiling water, to cover; ½tbsp plain flour; salt and pepper. For the herb butter: 60g unsalted butter, softened; 4 garlic cloves, crushed; ½tsp chopped thyme leaves; 1tbsp chopped parsley; 1tsp chopped chives; zest of 1 lemon
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas mark 6.
Place the onion, the five smashed garlic cloves, the carrots and thyme sprigs in a roasting tin. In a bowl, mix together the herb butter ingredients and a good pinch each of salt and pepper, then put to one side.
Now take your chicken and a spoon. At the top of the chicken breast on the big opening side, slide the spoon in between the skin and the flesh. Go all the way down on both breasts to form a pocket each side of the backbone. Spoon three-quarters of the garlic butter mix into both pockets, dividing it evenly, then spread and smooth down. Rub the remaining garlic butter all over the chicken and season the skin with a good pinch each of salt and pepper.
Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tin. Just cover the bottom of the tin with boiling water (this stops the vegetables burning).
Now place the chicken in the oven to cook. After 20 minutes, start to baste the chicken with the juices. Repeat this process every 15 minutes. The chicken should take around one-and-a-quarter to one-and-a-half hours, depending on the size. The bird is done when the internal temperature reaches 74°C/165°F and the juices run clear – check the thickest part of the breast and test with a meat thermometer.
Now take the chicken out of the roasting tin and place on a plate. Lightly cover with foil and put to one side to rest.
Place the roasting tin over a medium heat on the hob. Add the flour and mix well, scraping all the goodness off the bottom of the tin. Now stir in 200 millilitres of water. Bring to a simmer, stirring, and smash the vegetables to release their flavour.
Simmer for a few minutes, then strain into a saucepan, making sure you push hard on the vegetables and garlic to get all the flavour. Simmer the gravy over a medium heat until it’s reduced to the consistency of your liking. Season with a good pinch each of salt and pepper and
add any juices from the resting chicken (don’t waste flavour).
Carve the chicken and serve with roast potatoes, cooked vegetables and cauliflower cheese. Spoon the gravy all over and enjoy.
Curried corn and fried eggs on toast
Bursnall developed this recipe when he appeared on The Great Cookbook Challenge with Jamie Oliver. He says it’s “such an easy and cheap recipe, but it definitely delivers on flavour”.
Serves 2. Ingredients: 1 x 200g can sweetcorn; 1tbsp vegetable oil; 2 slices of bread (white or brown, as you prefer); ½ red onion, chopped; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; ½ red chilli, finely chopped; ½ green chilli, finely chopped; 1tbsp medium curry powder; 2tbsp unsalted butter; 2 eggs; salt and pepper; 1tbsp chopped coriander, to garnish
Drain the sweetcorn and tip into a saucepan. Add half a tablespoon of the oil and cook over a medium heat to warm through. Meanwhile, toast your bread.
Now add the onion, garlic and chillies to the sweetcorn. Fry for a few minutes, then stir in the curry powder. Cook for a minute, then add the butter and cook for a few more minutes. You can add one tablespoon of water, if you like, depending on how loose you want it to be. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put to one side and keep warm.
Put the remaining half a tablespoon of oil into a frying pan and fry the eggs to your liking.
Put the toast onto plates, place the fried eggs on top and spoon the sweetcorn mixture all over. Garnish with the chopped coriander. Tuck in.
Leftover doughnut bread pudding
“I came up with this tasty recipe having taken some doughnuts to share at my brother and his wife’s home, but they didn’t all get eaten, so they insisted I take them home with me. A couple of days later they had gone slightly stale and I didn’t want to throw them away, so I made this – they were perfect for this easy pudding,” says Bursnall, who recommends using stale doughnuts for this one, so they soak up the egg mixture properly.
Serves 4. Ingredients: knob of butter; 220g jam doughnuts (about three medium doughnuts); 220g custard doughnuts (about three medium doughnuts); three medium eggs; 200ml milk; 30g caster sugar; ¼tsp vanilla extract; ¼tsp ground nutmeg; ¼tsp ground cinnamon.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas mark 6.
Grease a 20 x 20 x 5 cm baking dish with the butter. Cut all the doughnuts into bite-sized pieces and place in the baking dish. Now crack your eggs into a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Pour the egg mixture over the doughnuts and press them down, then leave to soak for 10 minutes.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. I like mine crispy on top and gooey in the middle. If you want the middle to be more cooked, bake for a further five to 10 minutes.
When the bread pudding is done, take it out of the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes so that it can cool a little. Serve with ice cream or custard.