I’ve been craving really simple, winter warming food. It’s cold and there is something so comforting about all those lovely flavours coming together, especially with winter vegetables, made just the way we have it when we visit home. I have hundreds of cookery books but somehow, I love the way my mum and sister, Elizabeth make roast chicken.
We like to break with tradition every now and again and have a very simple Parmesan Risotto with our chicken, instead of roast potatoes. I usually just make a plain risotto with stock, adding butter and Parmesan at the end and a drizzle of the marjoram chicken juices. The secret as far as I can tell is to wrap the chicken in foil, or you could use a pot with a tightly fitting lid as long as it holds your chicken. Then my mum adds water to almost steam roast it, taking off the foil or lid thirty minutes before the end for the chicken to brown. Adding the marjoram, carrots, leeks and parsnips to the pot too also adds flavour. Marjoram is a lovely herb, very underrated and quite often used in Polish cooking. The second trick is to cook your chicken on a slightly lower heat, but for longer. My mum leaves her chicken in for a good two hours, even it is a fairly small sized bird.
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By next week I am hoping to add another linky up – similar to the one for Simple and in Season – so that hopefully some of you will also add you Family Friendly Recipes throughout the week.
I hope you enjoy the weekend!
working london mummy says
this looks delicious Ren! Would love it if you could link it to our one ingredient cooking challenge that Laura and I are hosting – the link for this months (Poultry is the challenge ingredient)is http://www.howtocookgoodfood.co.uk/?p=1281
PS is there a simple and in season this month?
Nazima x
Ren says
Hello, sounds lovely, would love to link up. Will pop aling and check out the post and send this across xx
Simple and in Season is having a seasonal rest, I will be posting a round-up shortly, it will be back in January!!
Simone says
I love a good roast chicken Ren and especially these days with lots of different (and usually heavy) dishes, a simple yet so very satisfying dish such as this is perfect!
Ren says
Hi Simone, yes it’s always a favourite here and we never tire of it! Thank you so much for the comment and for the visit 🙂
Sally - My Custard Pie says
KP always says “I fancy a pot-roast” although I’m sure he doesn’t really know what it is! This would suit him perfectly. A new linky – how exciting.
Ren says
Hi Sally, I wish I were in Dubai. My hands are so cold I can hardly type. It’s quite remarkable how long the left-overs from this lasted, I’ve just eaten a chicken and mayo sandwich too. Wonder if you can find marjoram where you are? x
PS Yes, hoping to get new linky sorted soon, but I’m sinking fast at the moment!
Shannon | Just As Delish says
What a simple and beautiful dish.. my kind of recipe. Found your blog when I was searching on google, so glad I came here. I’m your new fan – love your recipes and concept. great work & keep it up
Ren says
Hi Shannon, thanks for visiting! YOu are very welcome. I hope you enjoy exploring more recipes here 🙂 Thank you for your lovely comment. Ren x
Mark Willis says
Funny, isn’t it, how Mum’s cooking always seems best! Step 5 of the recipe is something that not enough people do. Put a few bits of the leftover meat into the cooking juices and you’ve probably got a pretty good soup already, even without making the carcass into stock.
Ren says
Hi Mark, yes, I do it pretty automatically, pick all the chicken off and then just throw the rest in a pan with a stock cube. We had food for three days from one chicken! Have a lovely weekend.
bakingaddict says
This looks really ‘homely’ and delicious. Perfect for the weekend.
Ren says
Thank you, so many meals out of one chicken too, soup and a pasta dish too the next day!
Laura@howtocookgoodfood says
Beautiful dish Ren, just the sort of thing I cook for my family too!
Ren says
Thanks Laura, can’t beat a roast chicken really can you. I know it’s been done a million times before, but I’m still trying to perfect the way my mum does it! Have a lovely weekend x