Roots Chicken 'One Pot'

There’s always room for one more chicken recipe in your book of family favourites!

We treat this recipe as the basis for many others changing it with the seasons and our mood, but its origin is a simple ‘one pot’ dish, as good on its own as with additions, sides or otherwise. It goes without saying that the very best chicken you can buy is the only chicken that is worth cooking. Here at Roots we are totally passionate about our chicken, how it is raised, dressed, sold and usually accompanied with delicious recipes for serving.

This recipe is ideal for chicken portions, quarters or individual joints, depending on the size of the bird and the size of your pot. We usually cook;

One whole chicken jointed (eight portions) or eight thighs

A tablespoon of olive oil

Two large carrots

Four sticks of celery

Two medium onions

Two tablespoons of plain flour

Chicken/Vegetable Stock maybe a ¼ pint of white wine (two pints in total should cover the chicken and vegetables)

Salt & Pepper

Good additions; Green Olives, Small waxy potatoes (whole), A tin of tomato, A tin of butter beans

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Chop the onion, celery and carrot into evenly sized chunks, sauté in a little olive oil until the vegetables begin to soften but not colour, tip into an ovenproof casserole dish.

Coat the chicken portions in seasoned flour. Warm a little more olive oil in the frying pan/sauté pan and brown the chicken portions, probably in two batches to allow enough room in the pan for movement as the portions brown. Lift this out of the frying pan and onto the vegetables in the casserole pot.

Add approx. half the wine/stock to the frying pan and over a gentle heat scrape up all the sticky, floury vegetable bits that are left pouring this over the chicken and vegetables in the casserole pot along with the remaining liquid to cover. Place a tight-fitting lid on the casserole and move it into the oven.

Allow to cook for a minimum of two hours – the longer the better until the chicken is soft and falling off the bone. If you wish to add olives, potatoes, tomato or beans, allow the first hour of cooking to pass and then add the extra ingredients cooking on for at least another hour. Serve in warm bowls with any of the following; freshly steamed vegetables, creamy mashed potato, nutty brown rice, crispy salad and garlic bread for dunking!