Ingredients
- 1.6 kg chicken
- 125 g butter, at room temperature
- 125 g mushrooms (such as morels or buttons)
- 2 rashers bacon, cut into thin strips
- 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
- 500 ml chicken stock
- salt flakes and black pepper
- 100 ml reduced veal stock
- 100 ml thickened cream
Sunday night pot-roasted chicken with mushrooms and bacon
This is a cross between roast and pot roast, giving a crisp skin on top but deliciously moist meat underneath. And all the wonderful cooking juices are reduced down to make a bacon and mushroom sauce. If you can’t get morels, button mushrooms are a good alternative.
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Gently lift the skin of the chicken and, using your fingers, spread the butter between the skin and flesh. Take care not to tear the skin. Place the chicken in the middle of a deep baking dish.
Quarter the button mushrooms but leave the morels whole if you have them, for maximum effect. Place in the baking tray with the bacon and thyme, add the chicken stock and season the top of the bird with salt and pepper.
Roast for 20 minutes or until the skin is crisp and golden, then reduce the heat to 180°C and cook for a further 40 minutes or until the juices run clear. Remove the chicken and some of the morels and bacon, then cover and rest on a plate.
Place the baking tray over direct heat (if it is not flameproof, pour the juices into a medium frying pan). Simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, then stir in the reduced veal stock and bring back to the boil. Add the cream, then simmer until the sauce has reduced to your desired consistency. Transfer to a serving jug.
Portion up the chicken and serve with the reserved morels, bacon, sauce and your choice of vegetables.
This recipe was provided to Foodwise from the book “Annie’s Garden to Table” by Annie Smithers, photography by Simon Griffiths, published by Lantern rrp $49.95.
Submitted byAnnie Smithers
