Ingredients

• 1 chicken
• about 1.5kg/3lb 5oz
• 55g/2oz butter or 2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3–4 smoked bacon rashers (optional)
• 20g/1oz dried morel mushrooms
• soaked overnight in 500ml/18fl oz whole milk
• 35g/1¼oz butter
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 100ml/3½fl oz dry white wine
• 100ml/3½fl oz double cream

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Rub the chicken with the butter (or oil) and season with salt and pepper.
• Place the bacon rashers over the breast (if using). Place the chicken in a roasting tin and roast for 1–1¼hours. The chicken is cooked if the juices run clear when you insert a skewer between the thigh and breast.
• About halfway through the cooking time for the chicken
• make the sauce. Drain the soaked mushrooms through a sieve lined with muslin (or other clean fine-meshed cloth) to remove any sand or grit. Set the liquid aside.
• Wash the mushrooms carefully and cut them into bite-sized pieces.
• Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour
• stirring it well for about a minute. Gradually add the wine
• stirring all the time and taking care not to let the sauce burn.
• Add the mushroom liquid to the sauce very slowly so that it doesn’t curdle
• then add the mushrooms and cook for about 20 minutes.
• Add the double cream to the sauce and heat through gently. Season
• to taste
• with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Carve the chicken and place it on a serving platter. Pour over the juices from the roasting pan and serve with the morel sauce.