Gotta pick a packet or two……..

Here’s a little post with a Twist:

I didn’t take a picture of our evening meal today as it was rather cramped on the plate!
Here is the list:

Chicken fillet
Sausage
Roast potatoes*
Stuffing*
Green beans
Carrots
Yorkshire pudding*

The dogs looked hopeful and did get half a sausage each (I’d cooked four) but little else, it was just too good.

I’ve admitted in previous posts that I cannot make custard for toffee and so resort to the packet stuff you make with boiling water.
However, there are times when packet stuff * is more than just convenient for custardphobes like me.

Take our roast potatoes *1.
Because we are in the Summer months, Desiree Red and King Edward potatoes (the best IMO for roasting) are rare in the shops having been replaced with Jersey New potatoes or similar. These are very nice in their skins, but as a roast? Hm.
The men went shopping this morning (yes, THE MEN) and came back with the green beans and a bag of frozen roast spuds. Not really a cheat as I’ve used frozen before, but these were still in their skins, and not exactly what I’d call roasting material.
Half way through my cooking time, I took them out of the oven and they looked a little dry and sad. I decided to drizzle a little oil over them and then sprinkled them with thyme. I added my sausages to the pan and cooked them as well with this seasoning.
They crisped up a treat and were light, fluffy and extremely tasty. The sausages also glazed well and had an extra ‘zing’.

Stuffing *2.
A cheap packet job (15p), not one of the known brands, and although it mixed up OK it was a little dusty and dry.
A-ha! I spied some chestnut mushroom MOH had on top of the fridge, so I selected 5 firm ones, sliced them thinly, and added them to the mix. I then rolled the stuffing into balls and they were put in the bottom of the oven to cook half an hour before I was ready to serve.
Oooh, nice!

Yorkshire Pudding *3.
I don’t believe that you can only have yorkshire pud with beef. Any roast dinner in my house and you will find one on your plate.
However, I have never managed top hat jobs, despite having my fat really hot, and quite honestly, for the cost of less than £1 for 12, why bother?

My gravy was Bisto made with the juice from the chicken and water from the veg.

One of the best roast dinners I’ve done as the flavours all worked and came together.
Note:
images from google