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1 stick celery, roughly chopped
1 onion roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
4 tbsps olive oil
1 glass white wine
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 large chicken, with giblets (about 3-4lb)
half a lemon
1 clove garlic
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp butter
250 ml fresh chicken stock
1 heaped tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsps double cream
1 tbsp red-wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped parsley
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Preheat the oven to Gas 7/220.
Place the celery, onion, carrot, garlic, tomato, herbs and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a flameproof roasting dish and stir.
Remove the giblets from the chicken and put the liver inside the chicken, and the heart and neck into the pan.
Put the lemon and butter inside the chicken cavity with the thyme.
Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and put in the oven to roast.
Roast for one hour then test by sticking a skewer into the deepest part of the thigh. Hold a spoon under the perforation and if the juice that flows out is pink your chicken needs further cooking. Test again 15 minutes later.
Once the juices "run clear", the chicken is cooked. Lift it from the pan and keep warm on a serving dish.
Meanwhile, get to work on the fricasse.
Leaving the vegetables in the pan put the roasting pan on top of the hob and turn the heat to a medium flame. Add the wine and scrape away at the base of the pan with a wooden spatula to deglaze, then add the stock.
Bring to the boil and simmer for two minutes. Add the mustard and cream, then the vinegar. Go carefully with the acidity - add half a teaspoon, taste and add more if you want a sharper flavour.
Sieve the contents of the roasting pan into a small pan add salt if necessary and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve by carving the chicken, the French way, leaving the meat on the joints, and putting into a dish.
Pour over the sauce and scatter parsley leaves over the top.
Serve with a good late-autumn green vegetable like spinach - and pureed potatoes are a must. |
