Mushroom-stuffed Chicken with Gravy

Ingredients:

1 small, oven-ready chicken
sea salt
1 garlic clove
300g mixed field mushrooms or horse mushrooms and morels (enough to fill the body cavity of the bird)
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
olive oil
3 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp soy sauce

Method:

Because of their shape, morels can easily harbour dirt, insects and even stones. To clean them, split in half lengthways then place in a bowl of warm, heavily-salted water and jostle them, turning over and over, to dislodge anything that's either inside or caught in the crenellations. The salt will also force out any wood fleas that have made their home in the mushrooms.

Once clean, drain, rinse under cold water and sit in a sieve. In the meantime, wipe the field or horse mushrooms clean.

Wash and dry the chicken then rub all over with the garlic and season both inside and out with sea salt. Slice the mushrooms, season with salt and black pepper then use to stuff the body cavity and the neck of the bird.

Place the bird on a rack in a roasting tin and drizzle over a little olive oil. Transfer to an oven pre-heated and roast for about 80 minutes, or until the juices in the thickest part of the thigh run clear when pierced with a sharp fork.

When the chicken is done, pour about 300ml of the pan juices into a saucepan. Heat and stir in the flour to thicken the gravy (if this is too thick for your tastes whisk in a little water to thin it). Bring the gravy to a gentle simmer (do not boil) and just before serving work in the soy sauce.

Pour the sauce into a gravy boat. Serve the chicken, sliced, accompanied by the mushroom stuffing, boiled rice and the gravy.