My Mum knows a thing or two about feeding the masses.
Many of my fondest childhood memories revolve around her catering huge family parties and events. She makes it look so easy, and I’m sure I learnt the pleasures of cooking for others partly through watching her bask in the warm glow of feeding friends and our huge extended family over the years.
Mum knows how to double, or even triple, a recipe without ruining a dish. Her Coronation Chicken is so legendary, people have been known to enquire as to whether it’s on the menu immediately after receiving an invitation.
When she and my Step-Dad married, she cooked a huge casserole of beef with prunes for their guests, which she served with more jacket potatoes than I’ve ever seen at one meal. She was able to leave it all cooking away in the oven while we were at the registry office. It was the perfect fare for their chilly, December wedding.
The well worn, volcanic orange Le Creuset casserole dishes that my Mother has always cooked with are, in my mind, synonymous with her epic spreads and legendary diner parties. As such, any recipe that calls for me to bring out my own cast iron pots instantly makes me feel like my Mum – in a good way. It’s grown up cooking, comforting, and filled with love.
The simplicity of a meal that requires only a few ingredients and my biggest Le Creuset appeals to me greatly, as does the ‘quick, quick, slow’ of it’s preparation. A dish that needs two hours in the oven could never be considered fast food, yet there is something incredibly freeing about slipping a pot in the oven and leaving it be all afternoon.
Perfect for lazy Sundays, this Spanish Pot Roast Chicken will fill your home with the most comforting of aromas…
You will need:
3 onions
3 carrots
3-4 large potatoes, peeled
1 whole bulb of garlic
4 tomatoes
3 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 heaped teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 whole chicken, 1.5-2kg in weight
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
250ml white wine
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5
- Quarter the onions {no need to peel them}. Cut the carrots into long battons and the potatoes into large chunks. Slice the bulb of garlic across and quarter the tomatoes.
- Put all the vegetables in the bottom of a large casserole withe fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the paprika. Season well and stir.
- Rub the remaining oil and paprika into the chicken along with some salt and pepper. At the risk of sounding terribly gruesome, I tend to crack the chicken’s backbone to make sure it’ll fit comfortably inside the casserole. Place the bird on top of the vegetables and pour in the vinegar and white wine.
- Cook in the oven for one hour, covered, then remove the lid and cook for another 30 minutes to one hour to brown the chicken and, depending on its size, ensure it is cooked through.
There are a number of ways to vary this dish. You can omit the potatoes and serve it with rice or pasta instead, and some added chunks of chorizo mixed in with the vegetable would also be delicious. Any leftovers are great whizzed up into soup if you add a little extra liquid in the form of some stock, and maybe even a dash of cream.
Recipe adapted from Leon: Naturally Fast Food Book 2, which I cannot recommend highly enough.
What have you been cooking lately?
Love Audrey xxx
PS. For reference, the Le Creuset pictured is the 24cm Round Casserole in blue. I also have the 20cm version, as well as the 30cm Shallow Casserole and a small cast iron saucepan which I’m not certain they make anymore. Le Creuset is expensive, but well worth the investment in my opinion. Mine are over 10 years old already, and my Mother’s are in excess of 30. I’m not affiliated with the brand in any way, I just love my pots!
I have been crying after an orange Le Creuset pot since I was about 12, when kitchenwareitis struck. Other symptoms include: wandering around utensils aisles with a glazed look; loitering in front of KitchenAid machines. There’s no known cure.
Oooh you’re a woman after my own heart. My obsession with kitchenalia started young too! I hope you get your wish soon. I have to admit, all of mine were gifts, first for my 18th birtday and then wedding presents.
xxx
Have you used yours to make meringues? I’ve convinced myself that the reason mine are consistently flat is because I don’t have a KitchenAid. I’m stuck with the old fashioned way – a slightly hyperactive boyfriend who is handy with a whisk!
I have a whole chicken, I have an abundance of Le Creuset, looks like my Sunday is sorted! I am just rediscovering the joy of pottering in the kitchen, trying new recipes, and filling the afternoon with slow cooking. It is wonderful for the head and even better for the tummy 🙂 I echo your thoughts re. Le Creuset. It really is worth the investment. My Mum’s pieces are still going strong and I’ve enjoyed starting my own collection. Keep an eye on charity shops: I picked up an original orange three piece saucepan set recently for a fraction of the modern price! Thank you for the recipe x
Yes, charity shops are great. As is TK Maxx actually, I always see a few bits of Le Creuset in the homeware section of my local store.
Hope you enjoyed the chicken!
xxx
This looks like a lovely recipe, will try it this weekend. Slow cooking in Le Crueset is great particularly nice to come home to a slow cooked pot of something. I love trying out new recipes but there are so many that disappoint. Two of my more recent successful recipe finds are ‘Chicken Stew and Dumplings’ from Val Warner’s ‘The Good Table’ (kids, grandparents and great granddad all gave it the thumbs up) and the other is Chicken salad with Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts and Vietnamese mint’ from Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey, this one is great when I have a busy after school session and the recipe is way more simple than the title sounds. I make it during the day and dress it at the last minute. Never used/had Vietnamese mint though!
Mmmm… those recipes sound delicious. Will have to see if my library has the Rick Stein book, I think my husband would love that meal.
xxxx
I don’t normally comment *hides*, but that looks so delicious and perfect for a chilly weekend supper, especially as I am nursing a slightly sore head today!
Oh don’t hide! Thank you for taking the time to comment 🙂
This is great comfort food, so warming and restorative. Hope your sore head hass passed by now though!
xxx
Love your blog and always look forward to reading it! I’ve never commented but it’s about time!! Me and the hubby made this tonight- was beautiful!! Soup made with leftovers and enough chicken for salad lunches tomorrow and risotto tomorrow evening!! Thanks for sharing xx
Thank you so much for leaving your first comment, and for making it such a lovely one 🙂
So glad you enjoyed the chicken, it’s nice to know my rambling actually inspires someone every now and then!
xxx