Pot-roast cider chicken recipe

Pot-roast cider chicken recipe

Pot-roasting a chicken is a brilliant, stress-free way to get super-tender meat as you are essentially ‘steaming’ the bird, and collecting all the fabulous juices while cooking. The cider adds a beautiful sweet roundness to the sauce and there’s no need to make additional gravy. Win win! Any excess meat and sauce will be delicious in a chicken noodle soup later on in the week (see recipe), or frozen for a later time.

Preheat the oven to 190/375/gas 5. Place the rapeseed oil in a large casserole dish with a lid and heat over a high heat. Season the chicken with a good pinch of sea salt and a grind of pepper.

Place the chicken breast-side down in the hot oil for 5 minutes. Carefully flip the chicken using 2 spatulas or wooden spoons and cook the chicken on its back for a further 5 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the dish and place on a plate to the side. Turn the casserole dish down to a medium heat and sauté the celery stalk, fennel and carrots for 3 minutes.

Pour in the cider and turn up the heat again to bring it to a boil. Boil for 4 minutes. Add the water and vegetable bouillon and boil again.

Stuff the garlic, rosemary and bay in to the chicken cavity. Place the chicken breast side up on top of the vegetables and place a lid on top.

Cook in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes or until the juices run clear and the meat is falling off the bone.

To serve, take the chicken out and carve, serving the gravy and vegetables up separately. If you would rather, you could strain the vegetables from the gravy to serve pure delicious sauce.

PRINT OR DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE.