Pot-roasted Chicken in White Wine and Redcurrant Jelly

This recipe is from the Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine, sadly, my favourite read these days. I’d like to pretend I have the time or capacity for something more intellectually challenging but I’d be lying –  activity of choice these days is a long bath with the eagerly awaited, latest edition. From Candide to cupcakes in a few short years. Nigella’s, of course. Does that validate me culturally once more? She is married to Charles Saatchi after all…

 

So, I cooked this for Sunday lunch for 4 grown-ups, a seven and a five year old, and served it with my Porcini red rice, asparagus and fine green beans, followed by lemon cake with raspberries and Green and Black’s vanilla ice cream. It’s incredibly simple, and produces the most delicious, fragrant gravy, ready-made in the pot. Though you will need, I believe, a really good, free-range, organic bird. I prefer to eat it less often and buy the best.

 

Serves 4

(Amendments/comments in brackets)

Ingredients

• 300ml white wine 
• 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly 
• 6 garlic cloves, quartered lengthways
• 1/2 x 20g pack fresh rosemary 
• 1 large free-range, organic chicken, about 1.7-2kg (use your common sense and add a smidgeon more of everything if your bird is bigger – I cooked a 2.2kg bird and added a little more)
• Small knob of butter

 

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas mark 4. Place the wine, jelly, garlic and rosemary sprigs in a large casserole dish and mix well together (once again I use a round 24cm Le Creuset ).

2. Check the label of the chicken for the exact cooking time – it should be about 2 hours but will vary depending on it’s exact weight. Place the chicken in the dish, cover and cook for one hour. (Make sure the lid doesn’t sit on the skin or it will stick to it, coming off at the next stage, making the breast less tender – you may need to butter the lid if it’s a big bird.)

3. Remove the lid, rub the top of the chicken with the butter and season. (Don’t be tempted to use more than a small knob of butter or the gravy becomes too buttery, separating at the table.) Return to the oven, uncovered for the remainder of the cooking time until cooked through and golden.

4. Lift out the chicken and place on a board to carve. (Cover with foil and let it sit for a few minutes before carving.) Strain the juices into a small jug, and use for gravy. (I like to return the garlic pieces to the jug as it’s a shame to waste them.) Serve with green beans and rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes. (Or rice and seasonal vegetables as I have.)