CHICKEN – nature's perfect food. Not much you can't do with a good old chicken. And here at EG, we don't mind saying that sometimes we like nothing more than sinking our greasy paws into a big bucket of the fried stuff.

But fried chicken every day may not be the single healthiest thing you can do, and chicken soup, while comforting on a cold day, often isn't enough. No, one of the most balanced ways to prepare the noble bird is through roasting.

This recipe takes that simple dish and adds a few lovely flourishes. To locate it we've gone to that foodie Facebook, Mydish.com, the online haven for people looking to share or find recipes. East Midlands MyDish user "Jacquie" offered this one.

Ingredients

1½ kg chicken 120 g crated fresh ginger 325 ml orange juice 250 ml chicken stock 8 garlic cloves, chopped 1 lemon 4 tbsp olive oil 1 flat tsp ground cinnamon Salt and black pepper to taste 6 shallots 500 g red and green seedless grapes

Method

1. Rub the chicken all over with half of the ginger, all of the chopped garlic, half of the lemon juice and 2 tbsp olive oil. Season with the ground cinnamon, salt and lots of freshly ground pepper. 2. Cover and marinate overnight in the fridge. 3. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. 4. Remove the chicken from the marinade and pat dry. Strain marinade and keep the ginger and garlic. 5. Rub the chicken with the remaining olive oil and place in a roasting tray. Put 3 peeled shallots, reserve garlic and ginger and as many grapes as will fit inside the chicken. 6. Roast the chicken for about 1.5 hours, until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the roasting tray, set aside and keep warm. 7. Skim fat off gravy. Add the remaining shallots to the roasting tray. Heat on the hob. Cook the shallots until softened, around 5 minutes. Add the remaining grapes, ginger, chicken stock, orange juice and any juices from the resting chicken. 8. Cook stirring over a high heat until the liquid has reduced to a thick, grape-studded sauce. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the remaining lemon juice to taste. 9. Cut up the chicken and serve at once with the sauce and grapes.