Adapted from my French grandmother's recipe, this poule au pot (one-pot chicken and veg) gives you so much for so little effort. Everything goes in one pot and you get cooked meat, cooked veg and stock for the week. This will easily feed 4 with plenty of leftovers for the week, or feed a hungry crowd of 6-8 without leftovers. Gluten and dairy free.
- 1 1.5-2kg whole chicken (organic or at least free-range if possible)
- 2 onions, peeled and quartered
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- good pinch sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 turnips, roughly chopped into cubes
- 2 leeks, roughly chopped into rings
- 2 large (baking) potatoes, roughly chopped into cubes
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped into rings
- handful roughly chopped fresh parsley, to serve
- Dijon mustard, to serve
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 1 small leek, finely sliced
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- olive oil and/or butter
- 2 big slices (gluten-free) bread or 1/2 small (gluten-free) baguette, cut into cubes
- a few handfuls leftover cooked pork (gammon, pork mince or sausagemeat)
- 1 apple, diced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- leaves from 2 sprigs fresh thyme, optional
- salt & pepper
- 1 bulb garlic with the top sliced off revealing the cloves, optional
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Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Place the chicken and onion with the spices, salt, vinegar and thyme and cover with water (about 2 litres/8 cups) in a large stockpot or big lidded oven-safe casserole pot. Place the lidded casserole pot in the oven for 90 minutes. Remove the lid and add the chopped turnips, leeks, potatoes and carrots, then put the lid back on and return to the oven for another 30 minutes. Slice or shred the chicken and serve in bowls with the cooked veg and ladle over some chicken stock. Top with fresh parsley and Dijon mustard.
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If making the stuffing, make it while the chicken cooks. Fry the carrot, onion and leek in 3-4 tablespoons of oil or butter for 5-8 minutes until softened. Add a few handfuls of cubed bread, some cooked pork, the apple and herbs. Season to taste and fry for another few minutes until the bread is lightly golden. Preheat an oven to 220C/425F/gas 7 (if you have only one oven, you can set the stuffing aside until the chicken is done and give it 5 minutes to adjust to the higher temperature - keep the lid on the chicken to keep it warm while the stuffing cooks). Pour the stuffing into a roasting tin and place in the oven, alongside the garlic bulb if using (I like to put it on a square of tin foil next to the tin) drizzled with a little olive oil. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until stuffing is golden and crispy and garlic cloves are soft and squishy. Squeeze a few of the garlic cloves into the stuffing and mix well. Serve the stuffing with the poule au pot.