Everybody loves roast chicken, and when it comes to the meat, the juicier the better - but it can be hard to get it perfect.
It's prone to drying out when it's been cooked, and it can be hard to get the moisture back into the bird once it's disappeared. Overcooked and overdone chicken can make you feel like the meal you were looking forward to has been spoiled, but it doesn't have to be that way thanks to Jamie Oliver's secret weapon.
Sharing a recipe titled "the ultimate chicken in milk" from his online series Jamie Oliver's Food Tube, the chef revealed that the dairy ingredient is "fantastic" for locking in moisture to ensure the chicken is juicy, yet cooked through.
He said: "This is one of my absolute favourite dishes, it's a real treat - you've got the lovely nutty, savoury flavours from the burnt butter, and citrussy, almost wine-gumminess of the slow-cooked lemon."
To start, the whole chicken needs to be prepared. Break the knuckles and chop them off with a sharp knife, through the joint. Then pull out the wings and cut them off at the base, cutting slightly into the breast. Lightly snip through the skin between the leg and breast so the leg falls to the side.
Then, bend the leg backwards to disjoint it, and turn the breast-side down. Cut between the leg and breast, remove the whole leg, and then repeat the process. Find the joint between the drumstick and thigh, tap the heel of the knife cut through the bone, separating the drumstick and thigh, and repeat on the other drumstick.
You should then slice between the breasts on the bone to separate, then use the heel of the knife to cut across each breast through the bone, leaving you with two large chunks, then slice each chunk into four pieces. When the chicken is prepared, the rest of the dish can be made.
Ingredients
- One 1.8 kg whole free-range chicken
- One teaspoon of fennel seeds
- 200g unsalted butter
- One bulb of garlic
- Two onions
- Two bulbs of fennel
- One lemon
- One large bunch of fresh sage (30g)
- One-inch stick of cinnamon
- 1–1.5 litres whole milk
Method
Take the prepared chicken joints and season them all with plenty of salt and pepper, plus one teaspoon of fennel seeds. Place a large non-stick pan on medium-high heat with 50g of butter. Add the chicken wings, legs and thighs skin-side down to brown in the pan for around three and a half minutes, or until golden all over, turning occasionally.
When the butter has turned a darker brown shade, it's time to transfer the chicken to a plate and throw away the oil and butter left in the pan. Jamie explained: "This will leave you with tasty sticky goodness at the bottom of the pan, which will give you a lovely caramelly flavour later on."
Return the chicken to the pan with another 50g of butter, and repeat the process, turning the chicken for another three and a half minutes, or until the butter is dark brown. Go in with the breast meat and another 50g of butter, and return the browned meat to the pan for a final time. Add the bulb of garlic until everything is golden, making sure to turn everything occasionally when needed.
Peel and quarter the onions then add to the pan. Finely slice the fennel stalks, stopping when you hit the bulb, then finely slice the leafy tops, and cut the bulb into quarters, adding to the pan as you go. Scrape up any sticky bits from the bottom of the pan, then make a well in the middle of it, and add the final 50g of butter.
Pop big chunks of lemon zest into the butter, put in a large handful of sage leaves and add the cinnamon stick. Fry everything for a couple of minutes, or until the vegetables are soft, stirring the contents of the pan occasionally.
Now comes the magic part to keep the chicken nice and moist - pour in around one litre of milk (half of the chicken should be submerged) and scrape up any sticky bits in the pan before squeezing in the lemon juice. Jamie said: "The zest will sort of split the milk, making a sauce which is absolutely fantastic."
The heat then needs to be reduced, cover the pan with a disc of greaseproof paper, and simmer the delicious chicken for 50 minutes. In the final 20 minutes, taste and check the seasoning and remove the cinnamon stick. To serve the delightfully moist chicken, pull the meat off the bones and divide it between plates. Spoon over plenty of juice and the curds.
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