Week 6:
I have come late to this fabulous dish; it has been around for years. It came from a cookbook of Jamie Oliver’s and the best advice I can offer is his: “Trust me, you’re going to love this one – the milk creates the most amazing flavoursome sauce”!
Chicken In Milk
Serve it with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach, or some green beans if you prefer.
Ingredients
- 1 (3 to 4 pound) whole chicken
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 6 to 10 cloves garlic, peeled, left whole
- 2 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 handful of fresh sage, leaves picked — around 15 to 20 leaves
- 2 lemons
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375F.
- Season the chicken aggressively with the salt and pepper.
- Place a pot that will fit the chicken snugly over medium-high heat on the stove, and add to it the butter and olive oil. When the butter has melted and is starting to foam, add the chicken to the pot and brown it, turning every few minutes, until it has nicely browned all over.
- Turn the heat down to low, remove the chicken from the pot and put it on a plate, then drain off all but a few tablespoons of the fat from the pot.
- Add the cinnamon stick and garlic to the pot, and allow them to sizzle in the oil for a minute, then return the chicken to the pot along with the milk and sage leaves.
- Use a vegetable peeler to cut wide strips of skin off the two lemons, and add them to the pot as well.
- Cover the pot and place it in the oven; after half an hour, remove the cover and let the chicken roast for another hour, basting the chicken occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and tender and the sauce has reduced into a thick, curdled sauce. (If the sauce is reducing too quickly, put a cover halfway onto the pot.)
- Remove the chicken from the oven after 90 minutes; it should be tender and falling off the bone.
- To serve, use a spoon to divide the chicken onto plates, spooning some sauce over each serving.
Notes
This goes well with sautéed greens, pasta, rice, potatoes or bread.