Thursday 30 June 2011

Random Recipe 5 - Battle Of The Chickens.



So, in my last Random Recipe post, I said that Steve and I were now going to be competitive with our random recipes and it would be war!  Well, it didn't work out that way this month.  Instead, we were rather pleasant to one another and collaborative (not like us!).



This month, we were to choose a random recipe from the cookbook we had received most recently as a gift for Dom's latest challenge.  I had received a copy of Nigella Lawson's Kitchen from my Mum-in-law for my birthday.  Have I mentioned before that I have a very glamorous Mum-in-law who inspires me with her cooking and baking dressed up to the nine and in her high heels?  We share a love of Nigella's books and I think my Mum-in-law really has the special Nigella glamour - you know - feeding your family with lovely, tasty, homely food but doing so with style!



Anyway, Steve randomly opened the book at Nigella's Praised Chicken recipe.  This recipe was her Mum's and is obviously very special to her.  It is a very healthy, hearty and inexpensive dish - ideal for families and it can have unending variations to it.  So, we thought it would be perfect for our war - we would each do our own version and choose a winner.



Steve was going to go first and was really going to make it pretty much exactly as Nigella's basic recipe. The afternoon he was due to make it, though, I had volunteered him to help some friends of ours move temporarily out of their home while they had some work done so, as he dashed out the door, he asked me to make it as he wouldn't have time.  I followed the basic recipe exactly and we served it according to Nigella's suggestions.



It was a lovely meal.  I loved the simple, peasant aspect to it and I really felt the kids were getting something really good for them.  It was also quick and easy to sling together.  It fed us again the second day and we also managed to make soup with the leftover so it worked out as a really cost effective meal.



The following week, Steve made another version but he actually wasn't terribly adventurous and didn't stray far from the basic recipe (I think he had wanted to do a version with lots of chilli and other strong flavourings but worried that the kids wouldn't eat so much if he did that).  I think we will certainly make this dish many times more and will try lots of changes.  I really want to put some fennel and pastis in my next one.  



I am so glad we tried this recipe.  The versions we made, don't really have any 'wow' factor to them but I just love the simple, healthy, homeliness of them and think this will be a staple dish here.



Recipe - Adapted from Nigella's basic recipe (Kitchen, p 223).
(Serves 4-8)

Ingredients - 
1 large, free-range chicken
2 tsp garlic oil
100ml white wine or dry white vermouth
2-3 leeks, cleaned, trimmed and cut into approx 7cm logs
2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into batons
1-2 sticks celery, sliced
approx 2 L cold water
1 bouquet garni or 1 tsp dried herbs
fresh parsley stalks or few sprigs, tied or banded together
2 tsp sea salt flakes
2 tsp red peppercorns, or good grinding pepper

to serve - 
chopped parsley
chopped fresh dill
English mustard

Method - 
1. Get out a large, flame-safe, cooking pot with a lid in which the chicken can fit snugly.
2. On a washable board, untruss the chicken, put it breast side down and press down until you hear the breastbone crack.
3. Put the oil in the pan to heat, then brown the chicken for a few minutes breast side down, and turn up the heat and turn the chicken over.  Still over a vigorous heat, add the wine or vermouth to the pan and let it bubble down a little before adding the leeks, carrots and celery.
4. Pour in enough cold water to cover the chicken, though the very top may poke out, then pop in the bouquet garni and the parsley stalks along with the salt and red peppercorns.
5. The chicken should be almost completely submerged by now and, if not, add some more cold water.
6. Bring to a bubble, clamp on the lid, turn the heat to very low and leave to cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
7. Serve the chicken and accompanying vegetables with brown basmati rice, adding a ladleful or two of the liquid over each shallow bowl as you go, and putting fresh dill and mustard on the table for the eaters to add as they wish.

Steve's Variations - 
Steve used cider instead of the white wine and added onions instead of the celery, and bacon lardons and pumpkin seeds. The bacon gave a lovely extra dimension of salty flavour and the pumpkin seeds were an inspired addition for some lovely crunch.

Check Dom's Blog very soon for next month's Random Recipe Challenge.

14 comments:

  1. I adore this recipe and I'm so glad you made it, and just in time too!! Thanks so much for taking part and coming up with the theme of course! Xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, I really want to try this recipe too, it's nice to hear it praised! boom! boom! lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. This sounds so yummy. The addition of bacon and onions makes it tastier I'm sure. I loved that you had a challenge within a challenge. Time got away from me this challenge round. Next month I will on top of it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dom - thanks - love the challenges - keep them coming!

    Anna - hee hee - I'll be interested to see your variations if you do it.

    FBMKW - Yes, the bacon and especially the pumpkin seeds were great additions so Steve definitely won this challenge! I should have said that in the post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like a great family recipe, and it's lovely to see you all enjoying it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. C - yes - brilliant family recipe - can't go wrong - I'm just surprised it took Nigella so long to put it in her books!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is one of my go-to weekday never-fail recipes! Glad to see you guys loved it too. Go Nigella!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. this is one of my fave from Nigella Kitchen, I have made it about a million times, like the addition of the seeds. i have always been shocked at how far the chicken goes..i usually take the chicken out and shred it up before serving. yum yum yum! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've been looking forward to trying this recipe ... will do so sooner rather than later now.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fabulous! When I read "Battle of the Chickens" it makes me thing of old style (and illegal, of course) cock fighting. This is definitely a much better pass time, cooking a yummy dish. It does look like it has a very comforting factor to it - and I love meals that stretch into others. I love your picnic table, btw, what a lovely place for a summer meal.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Victoria - I also noticed that the chicken seemed to go a long way with this recipe - very economical!

    Brownieville Girl - It is a nice recipe - let me know if you find any good variations for it!

    Angela - Thank you for your lovely comment. Our picnic table is actually one which we haven't looked after at all - it really needs varnished - but hey, I have two pre-schoolers and a dog - rough and ready and low maintenance is good for us. We love eating outside if we get half a chance!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Have just realised that I got the Hummingbird Bakery new book for Mother's Day. So, I should have been cooking form that for this challenge! Oooops. Oh well, I'll just have to do that as well. Don't anyone tell Dom!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi ,

    I would love to chat with you, great blog!

    I'm working on a new cookery programme for BBC1,

    Please call me on 0117 974 6928 and I can explain more,

    thanks loads

    Gayle
    Assistant Producer
    BBC Bristol

    ReplyDelete