Chicken recipes: A bird in the hand

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chicken pot pies

Golden: Chicken, lemon and leek pot pies. Picture: Brett Stevens
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Chicken recipes: A bird in the hand

MANY a cook starts the night with chicken in the fridge and dinner on their mind.

By the time the food hits the table it’s been transformed into something delicious and nourishing. Why do we love it so? Probably because it’s the most versatile of all proteins with endless recipes to match. Here are three delicious ways to cook chicken tonight for your family.

- Sophia Young, Food Editor, MasterChef Magazine

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ROAST CHICKEN WITH STUFFING

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 90 minutes

Skills needed: Basic

1/2 (about 300g) loaf day-old sourdough bread, crusts removed, cut into 2cm pieces

1.8kg organic or free-range chicken

1/2 bunch basil

1 bulb garlic

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra, to rub

400g can whole tomatoes

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

150g kalamata olives, halved, pitted

2 bulbs baby fennel, trimmed, thickly sliced

1 red onion, cut into thin wedges

200g fresh goat’s cheese

Preheat oven to 200C. Place bread on an oven tray and bake, turning, for 30 minutes or until dry and light golden.

Meanwhile, rinse chicken inside and out, then pat dry. Pick basil leaves and reserve stems. Reserve 3 cloves from garlic, then cut bulb in half horizontally. Stuff the cavity with basil stems and halved garlic, then tie legs together with kitchen string. Rub the skin all over with soy sauce until stained a light golden, then rub with extra oil. Season with some salt and pepper.

Tip tomatoes into a large roasting pan. Using scissors, cut each into quarters. Thinly slice reserved garlic cloves, then add to pan with vinegar, oil, olives, fennel and onion. Season. Toss to combine. Top with chicken and roast for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 180C and roast for 30 minutes. Add bread. Roast for a further 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Crumble over the goat’s cheese and scatter with the basil leaves. Carve the chicken and serve with stuffing.

TASTE TIPS

* For even, golden skin, tear off small pieces of foil to cover parts of chicken that are browning faster than others.

* For ease of cleaning, use disposable foil roasting trays; double if roasting on the barbecue.

* Shred leftover roast chicken and add to soups, pasta, pies and rice dishes for a quick midweek meal.

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CHICKEN, LEMON LEEK POT PIES

Serves 6

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 1 1/4 hours

Skills needed: Basic

2 tbsp olive oil

1.5kg chicken thigh fillets, each cut into 4 pieces

40g butter

2 carrots, roughly chopped

1 stalk celery, roughly chopped

2 leeks, cut into thick rounds

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp thyme leaves

2 tbsp plain flour

300ml chicken stock

1 bay leaf

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 cup pouring cream

6 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat oil in a casserole over high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then brown, in two batches, for 2 minutes each side. Reduce heat to medium. Add butter, carrots, celery, leeks, garlic and thyme. Cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes or until all softened.

Preheat oven to 200C. Scatter flour over veg and stir until grainy. Gradually add stock and bring to a simmer.

Return chicken to casserole with bay leaf and simmer for about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in lemon juice and cream, then season. Tip into a large bowl, place bowl in a sink of cold water, then stir to cool rapidly.

Stack the pastry sheets in groups of 2, then cut out rounds 2cm larger than dishes.

Spoon chicken mixture into dishes, brush edges with egg, then cover with pastry. Brush with egg and bake for 25 minutes until golden. Serve immediately.

TASTE TIPS

* To make these pot pies, you first cook a chicken casserole, so stop there if you prefer, and eat it with mash.

* You’ll need 6 x 250ml (1-cup) ovenproof dishes.

Add extra flavour to the pies by scattering tops with sesame or mustard seeds before baking.

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CHICKEN WITH CABBAGE AND ROCKET

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Skills needed: Basic

4 chicken breasts

3/4 cup plain flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup parmesan, finely grated

1/3 cup olive oil

80g butter

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tbsp baby capers

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 lemon, juiced

2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

340g white cabbage, finely shredded

1 cup rocket

Cut chicken in half horizontally and pound. Place flour on a plate and eggs in a bowl.

Dust chicken with flour, shaking off excess. Combine cheese with remaining flour.

Dip chicken in eggs and coat in cheese mixture.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 20g butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook half the chicken for 2 minutes each side or until golden. Repeat with another 1 tablespoon oil, 20g butter and remaining chicken.

Wipe pan clean and melt 20g butter over high heat. Stir in garlic and capers, then cook for 30 seconds. Add wine and simmer for 3 minutes or until reduced by half.

Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in parsley and remaining 20g butter.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.

Add cabbage, season, then toss until wilted. Stir in the rocket. Divide among plates. Top with chicken. Drizzle over the sauce to serve.

TIP

* To prevent sauce forming a skin, cover surface directly with cling wrap.

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TASTE SHOPPING LIST

CHICKENS

What’s the difference between the types of chicken available?

In a nutshell, conventional chickens are intensively raised to be ready for consumption in as little as six weeks.

Such rapid growth is not the result of hormones (banned in Australia in the 1960s); rather, feeding and selective breeding.

Free-range chickens are also intensively farmed, but have more floor space and access to outside areas.

Corn-fed chickens have a mainly corn-based diet (which is not organic and not always GMO-free), resulting in yellow-tinged skin and, many claim, a more tasty meat.

Organic chickens are raised to strict guidelines: 95 per cent of their food must be organic and they roam organic land.

They’re slower to reach maturity, so cost more to farm, hence the heftier price tag.

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