Making perfect gravy

If you're after the PERFECT GRAVY here is a gadget you shouldn't be without. Cooking a  Christmas roast dinner can be daunting - so why not try this gravy making tip.
We know some meats are much fattier than others, especially lamb, and we always use a fat separator to remove the fat. It's a well used gadget in our kitchen. Removing the fat does not remove the flavour.
Here's how we make our gravy. Unlike a traditional chef (roux) method - using flour and fat - we find this way of making gravy so much easier.
When you roast a joint of meat or a chicken, put chopped carrots, onions, celery and herbs at the bottom of the roasting tin. Sit the joint of meat on top of the vegetables, add water to cover the vegetables and roast in the usual way. We cover the roast with foil for half the roasting time.
Around half way through the roasting time, pour off half of the roasting juices.
Carefully tip the juices through the fat separator (you will see the fat layer forming at the bottom of the jug). When you pour the juices out, the fat remains at the bottom. Put the juices aside in a small saucepan.
After roasting the meat, take the remaining vegetables and roasting juices and press through a sieve. Discard the vegetables.
Next, pour the remaining juices through the fat separator and add to the saucepan. Add cornflour to thicken, bring to the boil and cook for a couple of minutes. Finally, season to taste - salt, pepper and a little Worcestershire sauce should be all that's necessary.

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Good old sausage and mash

Who doesn't love sausage and mash - a great comfort food for those cold days. If you need to rustle up something quickly, then why not make plenty of mashed potato and freeze ahead.
It's the time of year when time or lack of time can often lead to stress and takeaways.
Even if you don't have any prepared mash, you can always buy some. Being very busy ourselves and having to cut corners we thought we would buy our ONION GRAVY. After  surveying a few ready made gravies on the market, I found this gravy, which turned out to be so tasty, we'll be buying it again soon.  The complex flavours just lifted the dish entirely.

HOW TO COOK PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN - SUCCULENT AND CRISPY

There's nothing quite like a Sunday roast dinner... Everyone congregates in the kitchen - so we have to hide the chicken. But it's so satisfying.
TIP FOR A SUCCULENT SUNDAY ROAST CHICKEN.  We cook our chicken in a large metal oval roaster - with a lid. If you don't have this, then use a metal roasting tin and cover tightly with foil.
Chop stock vegetables and place these in the roasting tin, add enough water to just cover the vegetables. Then place the chicken on top. Next, place the roasting tin with lid on, onto the hob and bring it to the boil. This helps give the chicken a burst of heat to start the cooking process.
Now place into the oven at the normal cooking temperature for HALF the cooking time. (Calculate the cooking time according to the instructions on the pack). Remove the lid. Pour out most of the liquid at this stage and save for making the gravy later. Return the roasting pan to the oven (with the vegetables), sprinkle with salt/pepper or chicken seasoning and continue roasting for the remainder of the cooking time.
HOW TO MAKE PERFECT GRAVY. Remove the chicken to rest on a plate. Return the liquid you removed at half time. Boil on the hob, stir to loosen any bits that have stuck to the pan. Sieve all the juices back into a saucepan (or fat separating jug) and remove the fat from the top. You will see the fat floating, and this can be scooped off. Taste and season if necessary, then thicken with cornflour if you wish. If you need to add a bit of colour you can always add a splash of gravy browning. Delicious.
We've never failed to produce a wonderful moist roast chicken by cooking it this way.
Enjoy.
If you miss eating something, it might just play on your mind until... you find yourself craving it. So why not eat the food you really love - just like we do. We lost 7 stone in weight eating the food we love.
With our simple method, you might just wonder why you never thought of it yourself. But, thinking outside the 'diet' box has had an amazing impact on our lives.
Take a look at our METHOD of weight loss and find out how we have lost weight eating the food we love.
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