a single's Sunday roast

Back in the day when I was a non-single, Sunday roasts were a fairly regular occurrence and the other day I realised that I don't think I have had a Sunday roast since starting my solo journey, so I thought "Gosh dang, on Sunday I will cook myself a Sunday roast". And what a perfect Sunday it was for a roast, it started to rain just as I started to cook and a dreary kind of day is the best kind of day for a comforting roast.

I now think that Sunday roasts will again be a regular occurrence in my life.

1 chicken Maryland, skin on
1 small potato, peeled
1 carrot (I used purple carrot cause I love it)

1/2 brown onion, cut in to wedges
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 a cup of peas
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
Olive oil
1 cup of salt reduced chicken stock
1 mushroom, diced
Salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees. Cut your carrot in to quarters and lay on a small baking tray along with the wedged onion and a about 3 sprigs of thyme. Place your chicken Maryland on top of the carrot and onion, drizzle some oil over the top of the chicken, some leaves of thyme removed from the sprigs and a good crack of salt and pepper. Take the peeled potato, cut in half and then make lots of thin slices across the top but don't go all the way through as you want the half to stay intact, place on another tray lined with some baking paper and drizzle a little bit of oil over the top. Place both the chicken and the potato trays in the oven, have the chicken tray on a higher rack than the potato. Cook for around 30 minutes.

Once the chicken is done, put the peas on to cook. Turn the oven off and remove the chicken and potatoes plate them along with the carrots. Take a fry pan, put it on a high heat and place all of the chicken juices, onion, garlic, oil and thyme from the baking tray in to the pan. As this starts to cook add the diced mushroom. Cook this off for a couple of minutes and then tip in the cup of salt reduced stock. Bring this to the boil so that the gravy starts to reduce. When you use stock in an instance where it will be reduced I always recommend using salt reduced stock because as the stock reduces it becomes stronger in flavour and if you don't use the salt reduced kind than your sauce will be very salty. Whilst cooking the gravy mash up the garlic cloves if they are still whole and remove any twigs from the thyme. De leaf another 2 thyme sprigs and add the leaves just before the gravy is finished. Once you are happy with the consistency of the gravy remove it from the heat. Now drain your peas and plate them and then tip the gravy over the chicken and vegetables and serve.