A frosty morning just before Christmas, a chicken is roasting in the oven and dewdrops of condensation sparkle on the kitchen windows. The chicken has been basted with a paste of goose fat, juniper and thyme, around it a ring of sweet potatoes, their soft flesh melting, their outer edges crisping in the heat.
Just the smell of goose fat, or indeed that of the duck, will always bring a festive note. Spread it over the breasts and legs of a chicken and you will end up with a supremely juicy bird. This is one of those meals that feels and smells like The Feast itself, but is simpler, and can be brought out throughout the season for the many other “lesser” Christmas meals.
Pudding is not a steamed pudding as glossy and black as a top hat, but a tender tart of the softest imaginable winter fruit, a poached quince glistening with a jelly made from its own cooking syrup. Soft and rose-pink, the fruit sits on top of a spoonful of vanilla-scented pastry cream. A full morning’s work, but time well spent and a worthy contender for an alternative to plum pudding.
Goose-fat chicken with thyme, bacon and sweet potato
For the chicken:
chicken 1, medium sized
goose or duck fat 100g
thyme sprigs 6
juniper berries 6
bay leaves 3
For the potatoes:
sweet potatoes 1 kg
onion 1, small
streaky bacon 4 rashers
Set the oven at 190C/gas mark 5. Place the chicken in a roasting tin with room, at a later stage, to add the potatoes. Put the goose fat in a mixing bowl. Strip the thyme leaves from their stems and chop them. You will need about 2 tbsp. Stir into the goose fat, then add pepper and salt. Mash the juniper berries to a coarse powder, then add to the fat.
Tuck the bay leaves inside the chicken, then spread the seasoned goose fat over the legs and breasts. Roast for about an hour until their juices run clear when the deepest part is pierced with a skewer.
As soon as the chicken is in the oven, put a pan of water on to boil, one into which a steamer basket or colander will fit without the base touching the water. Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks, then put them in the steamer or colander and cook for 15 minutes.
Peel and chop the onion. Warm the oil in a pan, add the onion and soften over a moderate heat. Chop the bacon, add to the onion and fry in a pan till the fat is lightly crisp, then add all to the potatoes.
Scatter the potatoes around the chicken, spooning the goose fat and roasting juices over them and continue roasting until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes lightly browned on the outside and fluffy within. Remove the chicken from the oven and leave it to rest for 15 minutes before carving and spooning the potatoes alongside.
Quince custard tarts
If quince evades you, use dessert apples, cutting the cooking time for the fruit to 20-25 minutes. Makes 6
For the quinces:
sugar 100g
water 1.5 litres
quince 3
lemon 1
For the pastry cream:
milk 325ml
vanilla extract 1 tsp
caster sugar 50g
egg yolks 4
cornflour 2 tbsp
For the tarts:
puff pastry 320g
beaten egg a little
You will need 2 baking sheets, one lined with baking parchment. Make a syrup: put the sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil. Peel and halve the quinces; remove their cores, rubbing them with the cut lemon. Place the quinces in the syrup, then turn the heat down to simmer. Test for tenderness, but expect them to take 25-40 minutes. Remove from the pan and let them cool in the syrup.
Make the pastry cream: bring the milk almost to the boil, then remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the caster sugar, egg yolks and cornflour, pour over a little of the boiled milk, then gradually stir in the rest. Rinse and dry the milk pan, then pour in the custard mixture and place over a low to moderate heat.
Stirring constantly, warm the custard until it starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and transfer to a cold mixing bowl. Allow to cool, then refrigerate.
To make the tarts: on a lightly floured board, roll the pastry out to a rectangle measuring roughly 35x22 cm. Using a 12cm pastry cutter, cut 6 discs of pastry and place them on the cold, parchment-lined baking sheet. Score a circle in the middle of each pastry disc using a slightly smaller (8cm) pastry cutter, pressing down firmly, but not so hard that it cuts through the pastry. Rest them in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Place an empty baking sheet in the oven. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Bake the pastry for 12 minutes and remove from the oven. With the tip of a knife, cut through the scored centre of each tart; press the inner disc of pastry down with a teaspoon to create a hollow.
Place 2 heaped tbsp of the pastry cream in each hollow. Remove the quinces from their syrup (reserve the syrup), slice thinly and tuck the fruit into each tart case. Brush the rims with beaten egg. Return to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until the pastry is deep walnut brown.
Bring the syrup to the boil, then boil hard until it has reduced to a thick syrup. Any leftover will set to a jelly that can be used for toast. Brush the tarts with the thickened syrup and leave to cool.
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