DAILY DINNERS

Heat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/ Gas 4. Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with salt & pepper and stuff with the parsley and the peppercorns. Put in a roasting tin and rub the outside of the chicken with 1 tsp salt. Roast for 20 mins then add 400ml water to the tin and roast for 1h 15 mins, depending on size, basting now and then with the fat that has rendered into the tin, to make the skin crisper. Use a meat thermometer to check the inside of a thigh to see if it's done; it should read 75C, or the juices run clear when pierced with a knife. Remove and rest and keep warm under foil.

While the chicken is roasting, whisk the vinegar, 50ml of water and sugar for the cucumber, and when all the sugar has dissolved, add the cucumber slices and a pinch of salt and set aside, mixing gently now and then.

For the green salad, rinse the lettuce leaves and drain well. Mix the single cream, sugar, 1 tsp salt and lemon juice in a bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Fold the lettuce leaves through the dressing just before serving. Boil the new potatoes in salted water until tender, then drain.

While the chicken is resting, pour the liquid from the roasting tin into a saucepan, add the double cream and bring to the boil, then season with salt & pepper. The gravy will tend to separate, but give it a whisk now and then with a spoon once on the table and it will come back together.

Carve the chicken and serve with the boiled potatoes scattered with more parsley, sweet and sour cucumber, green salad and gravy.