ARIA Restaurant’s Matt Moran says go the whole chook for maximum satisfaction
I LOVE to cook a whole chook. Although a lot of recipes call for chicken breasts, or thighs or wings, there’s something pleasingly frugal about using the whole bird.
It’s a crowd-pleaser too, there’s always someone who prefers the leg, another who prefers the breast.
A whole bird is the solution. Even the carcass, picked clean, can be turned into stock to have on standby in the freezer. It’s perfect.
There are plenty of ways to approach cooking a chook in its entirety. Perhaps the most obvious is the good old roast, a thing of true beauty.
It’s one of the easiest things to get right — especially if you start with a good-quality bird — and a bit of a no-brainer if you have an hour or so up your sleeve and want something you can just set and forget.
Toss a salad or steam some greens, maybe make a batch of creamy mash, and dinner (or weekend lunch) is done.
We serve a whole roast chook at Chiswick, changing the accompaniments according to the season — lately it has been lentils, brussels sprouts and roast garlic — and it’s an absolute winner.
Poaching is another option and the Chinese have the right idea with this technique, simmering whole birds ever-so-gently in a master stock fragrant with aromatics, resulting in beautifully tender flesh and an even more flavour-filled stock than the one they started with.
The beauty of this method is that the master stock can be re-used (it must be stored correctly of course, and reheated with care), creating an ever-more flavourful result each time.
Another alternative is pot-roasting, where the chicken is browned first, then roasted in a lidded casserole (ideally cast iron). Cooking it this way, the steam is contained within a lidded vessel, creating an incredibly moist result and some amazingly delicious pan juices.
The benefit of this method is that your chook is unlikely to dry out (sometimes a hazard with roasting). The other plus is that if you’re clever, you can make use of the flavourful juices that pool in the bottom. I love to nestle the chook in a bed of onion, rice and stock before putting the lid on.
As the chook cooks, the rice takes up all the stock along with the beautiful juices from the bird, making a beautiful pilaf-style accompaniment to serve alongside. It’s a versatile technique too — add lardons of bacon and slices of mushroom instead, or channel the Asian vibe and use ginger, spring onion and chilli.
I’ve opted for Middle Eastern spices in the recipe here, and added a handful of lentils to the mix too (use small green lentils if you like them a little al dente or brown lentils if you prefer them more tender).
A simple side dish of roast carrots, a scattering of mint and parsley and a dollop of yoghurt makes this one seriously tasty meal.
You’ll never look at the good old chook the same way again.
Pot-roasted chicken with rice and lentils
Serves: 4-6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes plus 10 minutes resting time
Ingredients
● 1 chicken (about 1.8kg)
● 1 head of garlic, halved, plus 1 garlic clove extra, finely chopped
● 1 cinnamon quill
● 4 thyme sprigs
● Finely grated rind of 1 lemon, reserve lemon for stuffing, plus extra wedges to serve
● 2 tbsp olive oil
● 20g butter, diced
● 1 brown onion, thinly sliced
● 1 teaspoon each coarsely crushed coriander seeds and cumin seeds
● 180g long grain rice, such as basmati
● 50g small green lentils or brown lentils
● 200ml dry white wine
● 500ml chicken stock
● Thick natural yoghurt and coarsely chopped mint and flat-leaf parsley, to serve
Method
1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Rinse chicken inside and out under cold running water, pat dry with absorbent paper and season inside and out. Quarter reserved lemon and stuff the chicken cavity with it, along with the garlic head, cinnamon and thyme, tuck wings under and tie legs together with kitchen string.
2. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add chicken, turn occasionally until browned on all sides, set aside.
3. Meanwhile, add remaining oil and butter to a flameproof casserole large enough to fit the chicken and heat over medium-high heat until butter foams, add onion and chopped garlic, stir occasionally for 3-4 minutes until just tender.
4. Add lemon rind, coriander seeds and cumin seeds and stir until fragrant. Stir in rice and lentils to coat, add wine and simmer until reduced by half.
5. Add stock, bring to the boil, add chicken to pan, cover with a tightly fitting lid and bake for 35-40 minutes until chicken is cooked through and rice and lentils are tender. Remove from oven and stand while still covered with the lid for 10 minutes. Season to taste and serve with thick yoghurt, mint, parsley and roast carrots, with lemon wedges.
Matt Moran is co-owner/chef of Aria Restaurant, 1 Macquarie St, East Circular Quay, 9252-2555; Chiswick At The Gallery, The Domain, 9225-1819; Chiswick Restaurant, 65 Ocean St, Woollahra, 8388-8688; North Bondi Fish, 120 Ramsgate Ave, North Bondi, 9130-2155; mattmoran.com.au
Source: The Daily Telegraph, Matt Moran, 6th September 2015
Originally published as: ARIA Restaurant’s Matt Moran says go the whole chook for maximum satisfaction
