'la poule au pot'

cold season seems to be upon us, nearly everyone i have come into contact with over the last two weeks has been muddling through with a cold. when you are training that common cold just seems to make everything feel that little bit tougher. so i thought i'd share with you this wonderful 'la poule au pot' aka chicken in a pot. the extremely talented mark peregrine, head tutor at the raymond blanc cookery school & his team taught me this wonderful dish, along with a thai variation. enjoy the original 'la poule au pot' the day you make it, then turn it into the thai soup the following day. i highly recommend the cookery school at belmond le manoir aux quat'saisons, the valuable information they impart makes cooking simple, fun & tasty. the goodness in this soup nurtures  the body & is comforting to an aching body. it also makes the kitchen smell amazing.

ingredients

1. 1.8 kg organic free range chicken
2. 320g /4x shallots
3. 300g /4x carrots
4. 300g /2x leeks
5. 250g /4x turnips
6. 320g celery
7. 8 sprigs parsley
8. 4 sprigs thyme
9. 3 Bay leave
10. 1 sprig tarragon
11. 1g pepper
12. 3L cold water
13. 3tsp Sea salt
14. 3 lemongrass

to serve

1. Coriander.

directions

1. peel shallots, carrots & turnips. wash & trim the leeks & celery. bash the lemongrass with a rolling pin.    
2. remove the wishbone from the chicken, through the neck score each edge of the wishbone with a sharp knife. holding the wishbone in the centre pull it out.   
3. place the chicken in a large saucepan. cover the chicken with the cold water & bring to the boil, skim and add the remaining ingredients simmer very gently for 40-50 minutes according to size of chicken. if the cooking liquid boils then the meat will be tough and the fat and impurities will boil into the liquid. creating an unclear broth which will also lack clarity of flavour.   
4. to check if the chicken is cooking, pierce a thigh with the blade of a thin knife; if the liquid runs pink the chicken will require further cooking- when the juices run clear the chicken is cooked.   
5. turn off the heat and allow to rest for 20 minutes. allowing the meat to rest in the cooking liquid helps to tenderise the meat and improve the flavours.   
6. remove the chicken from the broth, allow to cool slightly. score the chicken down the centre, fold the wings back, remove the breast from the bone, remove the meat from the thighs. discard all bones. slice the meat.     
7. discards the lemongrass from broth.   
8. serve the broth along with some of the vegetables into a bowl. place the sliced chicken into the bowl along with some finely chopped fresh coriander.      

thai variation.

ingredients

1. 15g ginger
2. 1 clove garlic
3. 1 red chilli
4. 2 tbsp fish sauce or tamari sauce
5. 1 lime
6. 1 pak choi
7. coriander

directions 

1. as you remove the chicken from the broth, also remove all vegetables, discarding lemongrass.       
2. add ginger, garlic, fish/ tamari sauce, bring the broth to the boil again, then turn down to a simmer, add pak choi, steam for 3minutes.              
3. add lime, chilli & freshly chopped coriander.          
4. serve with the sliced chicken & some of the original vegetables. enjoy your nurturing bowl of goodness.