Ingredients

• 500ml/18fl oz milk
• 75g/2½oz butter
• 8 cloves
• 3 large bay leaves
• crumbled
• pinch salt
• freshly ground white pepper
• 1 small onion
• peeled
• finely chopped
• pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tbsp double cream
• 125g/3½ fresh white breadcrumbs
• 1 chicken with giblets (if giblets available
• chopped)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 300g/10½oz chicken wings
• roughly chopped
• 125ml/4fl oz dry vermouth
• 8 chipolata sausages
• 8 thin slices streaky bacon (or pancetta)
• 250ml/9fl oz good-quality chicken stock
• 750g/1lb 10oz small to medium waxy potatoes
• steamed or boiled in their skins
• then peeled

Directions

• For the bread sauce
• heat together the first eight ingredients until just bubbling for two minutes. Put on the lid
• turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for half an hour. Strain the milk through a fine sieve into a clean pan
• pressing down with a spoon to extract all the liquid.
• Add the cream to the milk mixture and gently heat. Whisk in the breadcrumbs. Leave for a few moments to allow the crumbs to swell. Season to taste with more salt and then pour the sauce into a bowl. Cover with a plate and keep warm over a pan of hot
• but not boiling water
• until needed.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
• Rub half of the oil over the chicken and sprinkle with plenty of salt
• set aside. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a roomy casserole dish and lightly brown the chopped chicken wings and giblets over a medium heat. Place the prepared chicken on top
• sitting it between the wings and giblets. Add pepper and the vermouth. Roast for ten minutes.
• Decrease the oven temperature to 180/160C Fan/Gas 4 and cook the chicken for a further 45 minutes to an hour and 20 minutes
• depending on the weight of the chicken. Check the chicken is cooked by inserting a skewer into the thickest part of the meat – if the juices run clear
• the bird is cooked.
• Meanwhile remove the skins from the sausages and wrap in the bacon. Place into a small roasting dish and cook alongside the chicken for about 20-25 minutes
• or until they are sizzling and nicely browned. Set aside and keep warm.
• Remove the chicken from the oven. Transfer it to a warm plate first letting the juices drip back into the roasting pan it was cooked in. Cover the chicken with foil and leave it somewhere warm to rest.
• Add the chicken stock to the roasting pan and simmer over a medium heat for about 10 minutes
• stirring in all the carmelised browned bits on the roasting tin. Strain and return the gravy to the roasting tin. Place on a medium heat on the stove.
• Add the cooked
• peeled potatoes to the gravy and turn them to coat in the juices. Transfer to the oven for at least 20 minutes or until golden-brown.
• Carve the chicken onto a warmed serving dish
• surround with the potatoes and sausage and bacon rolls. Serve the gravy and bread sauce at the table
• in sauceboats or small jugs.