Roast chicken with bread sauce

Heat the oven to 220c/fan 200c/gas 7. Season the inside of the chicken. This is very important as it really does add flavour. Stuff both halves of the lemon and the garlic cloves inside and season again.

You don’t need to peel the garlic. Lay the bacon over the chicken breast and put the chicken in a shallow roasting tin (a deep one will tend to steam the bottom of the bird).

Put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Once it has started to colour, turn the oven down to 170C/fan 150C/gas 3.

Keep roasting for another hour or until the juices run clear. check this by pushing a skewer into the thigh. If the juices that run out are clear, the chicken is cooked. If not, roast until they are. Rest for a good 20 minutes.

Stud the bay leaves onto the onion halves with the cloves. Put in a pan with the milk, bring to a simmer and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Lift out the onion, bring the milk back to a simmer and stir in the crumbs. Season and beat in a large knob of butter.

To serve, lift off the bacon and cut off each wing. Cut down through each leg joint – your knife should slide along the body and hit the point where the bones meet. You’ll know if you’re at the right point as the knife won’t meet any resistance.

If you do hit bone, then wiggle the knife blade until you find the joint and push through. Collect the ‘oysters’ which lie on the edge of the thigh meat on the underside of the chicken.

To take the breasts off, start at the centre of one side of the breast where you feel the bone just touching the skin. Slide your knife blade around the rib cage, keeping as close to the bone as possible until you hit the wishbone.

Cut down through this and keep going until you reach the under side of the breast. Lift off in one piece. Repeat on the other side. Cut off the ends of the legs to neaten them up and slice diagonally through the breasts. Serve with the bread sauce, some bacon and any juices from the roasting tin.