www. citycottage. co. uk
How to truss a chicken
You need a length of string, preferably butcher’ s twine, that is about a metre long. Fold this in half and tie around the‘ Parson’ s nose’ with a knot.
Pull the legs tight into the vent and then wrap the string around the lower legs and tie another knot. Now you have the vent- where the stuffing is, more or less sealed. Don’ t worry about a slight gap.
Take the string around the legs on either side and wrap around the wings, tying another knot in the centre. Now your bird is ready for cooking.
Cooking the Poule au Pot
Place the chicken into a large stock pot. Liberally cover the bird with cold water and add all your collected vegetables. The more the merrier really. If you have enough garlic, cut the whole bulb in half and add both halves, as well as about 500 g belly pork.
Actually, if you have it, a pork joint can be cooked in the same pot. Beware of cooking ham because the stock can become too salty.
Bring to the boil and cook for 90 minutes on a low but steady simmer.
Around about an hour into the cooking, test for seasoning.
All but the carrots
Remove all the vegetables from the stock, and if your carrots are large enough, set aside. The rest goes on the compost heap. The peeled and diced vegetables are then added to the pot to cook until tender. Keep the carrots back as they are surprisingly tasty because they have soaked up all those flavours.
Carrot honey sauce
• 1 tbs Dijon mustard
• 1 tbs honey
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs white wine vinegar
Mix the lot and pour over the carrots in a dish, and leave in the oven to keep warm while the rest of the meal is prepared.
To the table
Carefully remove the forcemeat stuffing from the cavity and carve the bird, the pork and present on a dish surrounded by the vegetables.