Hands up if you overindulged in December?…and January…? I for one, am having an argument with my clothes every morning. It starts with me scanning my wardrobe for something to wear to work: those trousers won’t fit, neither will those, nope not that either, no, no, no… Can’t wear that beach kaftan to work, yoga gear is out, and then it’s back to the start to see if there’s something roomy hiding there that I missed…

I can’t honestly say that it all started for me on Christmas Eve, but this was a notable dinner not only because it was delicious and shared with fabulous people, but because of the incredible size and flavour of the roast chicken that we ate.

Produced by Milking Yard Farm, an ethical and sustainable producer of sheep, cows, chickens and heirloom varieties of fruit and vegetables near Trentham in Victoria, this Sommerlad variety has been developed by the grower over more than 10 years. They are a slow-growing breed that lives up to 14 happy weeks before saying goodbye to the farm and hello to our dinner tables. And they are BIG. Ours went into the oven weighing 3.6kg and looking more like a turkey. It was respectfully dubbed Frankenchook.

We roasted potatoes in duck fat. And made Ottolenghi’s Etti’s Herb Salad to go with it. Add good company and it’s hard to get better than that.