How to make chicken with mushrooms, peas and spring vegetables, a one-pot seasonal meal – with a bonus dessert recipe
- Which spring vegetables you use for this one-pot dish is up to you; the recipe calls for morels, but you can use porcini, chanterelles or other wild mushrooms
- Eat it with some crusty bread and a salad. Follow it with lemon posset, an easy-to-make dessert
This is a perfect spring meal, with the whole main course – meat, vegetables and starch – served in one pan.
The only thing you need to add is crusty bread, either home-made or shop-bought, and perhaps a green salad with a sharp vinaigrette. The dessert requires several hours to set.
Chicken with morels, petits pois and spring vegetables
The vegetable list in this recipe is just a suggestion; feel free to substitute whatever fresh, seasonal young vegetables you can find, such as ramps and zucchini (or other squash). You can also use other wild mushrooms, including porcini and chanterelles.
This recipe makes use of almost the entire chicken, minus the head: the rendered fat is used to cook the dish and the bones are made into broth. Any excess fat and broth should be refrigerated and used within a week, or frozen for longer storage.
For the best flavour, salt the chicken pieces for at least six hours, or up to a day in advance. This allows the salt to penetrate the meat, rather than just staying on the surface.
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Ingredients:
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1 chicken, about 1.2kg (42 oz)
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Flour, for dredging
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Oil, for pan-frying
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15 grams (½ oz) dried morels
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1 or 2 small stalks of thyme
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8-12 shallots, peeled
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8-12 garlic cloves, peeled
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200 grams (7 oz) small potatoes, such as ratte or fingerling
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6-8 thick stalks of asparagus
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6-8 small, slender carrots
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75 grams (2⅔ oz) frozen petits pois
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100ml (¼ cup + 2 tbsp) + 2 tsp) dry white wine
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Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Cut the head off the chicken and discard it. Remove the neck, cutting it off as close as possible to the body. Cut off the wing tips, then remove the wings. Slice off the legs from the carcass, then cut between the joint to separate the thigh and drumstick. Remove the breasts, cutting them off close to the bone. Crack the back where it breaks naturally, then remove it from the carcass. You should have two wings (minus the tips), two thighs, two drumsticks, two boneless breasts and one back.
2 Sprinkle salt lightly but evenly over the chicken pieces, then put them into a plastic bag, close it tightly and refrigerate for at least six hours, or longer, if possible.
3 Put the chicken carcass, neck and wingtips in a saucepan, add about 300ml (1¼ cups) of water, then bring to a simmer. Lower the heat, cover the pan with the lid and cook at a very low simmer for about two hours. Strain the liquid into a colander set over a bowl. Discard the solids. Cool the broth to room temperature, then refrigerate it. The chicken fat will rise to the surface of the broth and harden; remove it and use paper towels to blot off the moisture. Put the fat into a container and refrigerate it.
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4 Remove the chicken from the fridge about 45 minutes before it is time to cook it.
5 Put the morels in a bowl and add 100ml of cool water. Soak the morels until soft, then remove them from the liquid and squeeze out the water. Strain the soaking liquid through a very fine sieve. If the morels are large, cut them in half.
6 Wash the potatoes but do not peel them. Put them in a pan and add about five grams of salt. Add cool water to cover the potatoes, then put the pan over a medium flame. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are just tender. Drain and cut them in half lengthwise. Boil a large pan of salted water, add the asparagus and cook for one to two minutes, depending on their thickness. Remove the asparagus from the pan, then use the same water to boil the carrots for one to two minutes, depending on their size. Remove the carrots from the pan and drain them.
7 Pour oil into a skillet to a depth of about 3mm (⅛ inch) and place it over a medium-high flame. Dredge the chicken pieces in flour and shake off the excess, then put them in the hot skillet (cook the chicken in batches). Brown the chicken on all sides, then put the pieces onto a plate.
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8 Heat about 30 grams (1 oz) of chicken fat in a skillet that is large enough to hold all the chicken pieces in one layer. Add the whole shallots, the garlic cloves and a sprinkling of salt and cook over a medium flame until they are lightly browned. Add the white wine and simmer for several minutes, stirring often. Stir in the morels and the soaking liquid and bring to a simmer.
9 Arrange the chicken pieces and the potatoes in the pan, add the thyme, then pour in about 150ml (½ cup + 2 tbsp) of the chicken broth. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover with the lid and simmer for about 15 minutes.
10 Uncover the pan and stir the ingredients. Taste the sauce and add salt, if needed. Nestle the asparagus and carrots in the pan and scatter the petits pois on top.
11 Cover the pan with the lid and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken is done; if the sauce is too thick, add more broth. Sprinkle with black pepper just before serving.
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Lemon posset
This is possibly the easiest dessert you can make.
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480ml (16 fl oz) cream
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140 grams (5 oz) granulated sugar
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160ml (½ cup + 2 tbsp + 2 tsp) fresh lemon juice
Pour the cream into a saucepan, add the sugar and heat until simmering over a low-medium flame, stirring often. Cool the liquid to tepid, then whisk in the fresh lemon juice. Immediately divide the mixture between four small bowls, then cover them with cling film and refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.
Styling Nellie Ming Lee
These recipes are from the Post Magazine archive
