Amazing Roast Dinner

I wouldn't normally blog about my Sunday dinner but yesterday I came across a couple of really great ways of cooking foods or tips that I thought I'd share.



Roast Potatoes
We recently (ok January) bought an Philips Air Fryer (like an Actifry) but I rarely use it.
Hubby uses it at least once a week to cook frozen chips in but after a bit of research there is loads you can do.... apparently if you buy the baking tray insert you can even make a cake in it!

Normally I buy frozen roast potatoes (I know what a cheat!) and very very occasionally I used to make my own, par boil the potatoes, dry them off, cook them in fat.... but after setting the old oven on fire I've been really wary.  Since moving house we have a horrible gas oven (the heat comes from open slats at the bottom) which means it is impossible to clean when splattered with fat (even my joints of meat are cooked in bags to avoid mess) so homemade yorkshire puds and roast potatoes are a definate no no.

I really missed my roasties tho ... until I discovered you can make really nice ones in the airfryer.  fair enough they are not as crispy as I would have liked but they were still good.  Here's how we did it......

1) Peel potatoes and cut into smaller bits (quarters is about right).
2) Put potatoes in a bowl with some oil and seasoning - we used oxo's chicken seasoning.  Mix the potatoes until they are covered in seasoning and oil.
3) After warming up the air fryer place the potatoes in the basket.  This is the best bit  - there is NO par-boiling involved the Air Fryer does all the work!!!  After 15 minutes on high the potatoes are well cooked through and a beautiful colour.  You can leave them in a bit longer or, as we did, transfer them to the oven.  I think this is where I went slightly wrong - perhaps if  I had covered them with a bit of oil again before transferring to the oven they may have crisped up a bit more (will try this next time and feed back).

 

Chicken

I love those chickens that come with the time already on the outside for you it is great for when your brain has frazzled.  My one yesterday didn't.... so I turned to the internet for some help and found a gem of information which produced a perfectly cooked chicken.

It is the BBC Good Food Roast timer:   http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/tools/roast-timer

Simply fill in the information such as weight and type of meat/ poultry and let it tell you the best temperatures and times for cooking a perfect joint.