Comfort Food for the Weekend

Simply poached free range chicken with seasonal roots and herbs and home-made flat breads

Cover a large chicken with water in a pan for the hob and a few aromatics; roughly sliced carrots, celery, whole garlic cloves, a few herbs; parsley, bay, sage, thyme are all nice. Whole peppercorns too. Some say not to salt but I like to as I think it’s important to salt from within, rather then just salting the outside of things – a la the queen of seasoning Samin Nosrat  (well worth a watch on Netflix btw)… Samin would probably say to salt the chicken the day before, or at least a while before (rather then salting the water) to help with the salting from within theory… but I am putting words into a far more esteemed chef’s mouth!

Bring to the boil and then reduce to a barely bubbling simmer, cover with a lid and leave to do its thing. A large chicken will take around an hour and a quarter.

Test for done-ness by skewering the thigh and checking the juices run clear.

This time I removed the chicken and shredded the meat to serve with simple salads and homemade flat breads. The broth and vegetables became a soup with the rest of the chicken the next day.

I always use the River Cottage infallible flat bread recipe with 250g plain flour, 1tsp fine sea salt and 1tbsp rapeseed oil. The key is letting the dough rest before cooking in a screaming hot dry pan. Then watch them puff and collapse before brushing the charred edges with oil or garlic and herb butter.

Grated raw beetroot with olive oil, cider vinegar and tarragon, sautéed courgettes or seasonal greens, natural yogurt and a few pink peppercorns complete the picture.