Spring Chicken For A Cool Night

Spring has sprung, the rain has come and our farm is almost fluoro green these days. Yay! We are loving all these lovely soft rain showers but some nice warm spring weather would also be nice.

In the meantime, I’m not quite ready to give away slow-cooking just yet and this zingy, delicious spring braise is just ideal for these cool spring evenings.

Spring Chicken Braise with Lemon, Herbs and Almonds

1 chicken, jointed
30g butter
4 tbsp flour
zest of two lemons
1/4 each of lemon thyme leaves, marjoram and rosemary (the latter only finely chopped)
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 sticks celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock

Couscous, toasted almonds and cress to serve.

Preheat your oven to 140C. Dust the chicken pieces with flour, melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and brown the chicken well on all sides. Lay the chicken in an oven-proof baking dish, add a little more olive oil and cook the onion, celery and carrot for about five minutes or until soft. Add the herbs and white wine and let bubble for a few moments, pour in the chicken stock and bring mixture to the boil.

Pour this sauce over the chicken pieces, cover tightly with foil and cook in the pre-heated oven for three hours.

Serve with couscous, toasted almonds and parsley or cress if you have it.