The perfect recipe for a one-pot meal.
"Basically a good chicken stew, this dish is one pot cooking at its finest. You can use any vegetables that are available to you in place of what’s in the recipe; fennel and celery work well. If you don’t have time to cut the chicken for sauté, your butcher should be more than happy to do it for you." – Killian Durkin
Yield: Serves: 10
Ingredients
- 3 chickens, jointed
- 3 onions, peeled and quartered
- 4 carrots, peeled and halved
- 4 sticks of celery
- 2 leeks, halved
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 250ml/9oz cream
- 10 baby carrots, peeled
- 20 baby leeks, cut into thirds
- 30 baby onions, peeled and halved
- 10 stalks tenderstem broccoli, halved
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Nutmeg
- Lemon, juice only
- Garlic oil, to garnish
- Baby potatoes and crusty bread, to serve
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/320ºF.
- Wrap the bulb of garlic in tinfoil and roast in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Cool and remove the cloves for later use.
- Place the thighs, drumsticks and breasts in a large pot and cover with water (use the leftover wings and carcass to make chicken stock). Bring to the boil and skim any impurities form the surface.
- Add the onions, carrots, celery, leeks, garlic, rosemary and thyme and gently simmer for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
- Allow to cool and remove the chickens. Pass the liquid through a fine strainer and discard the solids.
- Return the liquid to a large pot over a medium heat and reduce by half.
- Add the cream to the liquid, bring to the boil and reduce again by half.
- Cut half of the baby carrots in half lengthways and leave the rest whole. Blanch all the baby vegetables and tenderstem broccoli separately in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Refresh the vegetables in ice water to cool.
- Return the chicken to the sauce and add the vegetables and roasted garlic cloves. Reheat gently. Check the seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper, if necessary.
- Place in a large dish and top with some freshly grated nutmeg, a squeeze of lemon juice, a twist of freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of garlic oil. Serve with baby potatoes and fresh crusty bread.
TIP: Make your own garlic oil by wrapping a bulb of garlic in tinfoil and roasting in an oven at 160°C for 35 minutes. Remove the cloves from the bulb and store in a mix of olive oil and sunflower oil in a re-sealable jar. The garlic cloves will infuse the oil with their flavour and it can be kept indefinitely.
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