Roasted Chicken in Red Wine Mushroom Sauce with Garlic Mash and Roasted Carrots

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7. 
   Trim the carrots, then halve lengthways (no need to peel). Chop into roughly 1cm wide, 5cm long batons.
   Put the carrot batons on a large baking tray. Drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle over the sugar (see pantry for amount). Toss to coat, then arrange in a single layer.
   When the oven is hot, roast on the middle shelf until tender, 25-30 mins. Turn halfway through.
2. Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Once hot, lay the chicken in the pan, skin-side down. Season with salt and pepper.
   Fry until the skin is golden, 5-6 mins, then turn and cook for 1 min on the other side to sear. TIP: To ensure crispy skin, don’t move the chicken. IMPORTANT: Wash your hands and equipment after handling raw chicken and its packaging.
   While the chicken cooks, pop the garlic (unpeeled) into a small piece of foil with a drizzle of oil and scrunch to enclose it.
3. Once the chicken has seared, transfer it to another baking tray, skin-side up. Keep the pan, you will use it again. 
   Pop the chicken on the top shelf of your oven and roast until cooked through, 18-25 mins. IMPORTANT: The chicken is cooked when no longer pink in the middle.
   Halfway through the chicken cooking time, add the garlic parcel to the baking tray to roast for the remaining time, until the garlic is soft.
   Meanwhile, put a large saucepan of water on to boil on high heat for the potatoes.
4. Chop the potatoes into 2cm chunks (peel first if you prefer). Add to the pan of boiling water with 1/2 tsp salt. Simmer until you can easily slip a knife through, 15-20 mins.
   Meanwhile, put the (now empty) chicken frying pan back on medium-high heat with a drizzle of oil. 
   Once hot, add the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper, then stir-fry until golden and softened, 4-5 mins.
5. Stir in the water for the sauce (see pantry for amount) and red wine jus paste. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the sauce has reduced by half, 4-5 mins. Remove from the heat. TIP: If your red wine jus paste has hardened, pop it in a bowl of hot water for 1 min.
   When the chicken is cooked, transfer to a board to rest for a couple of mins. Once the garlic is ready, remove from the foil and allow to cool for a couple of mins. 
   Meanwhile, once the potatoes are cooked, drain in a colander and pop them back into the pan.
6. Once the garlic has cooled, cut the end with scissors, squeeze it out of the skin and mash with a fork. Add the garlic to the potatoes along with a knob of butter and a splash of milk (if you have any). Mash until smooth, then season to taste.
   Slice the chicken widthways, then serve on your plates with the mash and carrots alongside. Reheat the mushroom sauce if needed, then spoon it over the chicken to finish. 
   Enjoy!