Chicken and Butter Bean Pot-Au-Feu
Pot-au-feu is a very classic French dish that literally translates as "pot on the fire". Traditionally made with beef shin and potatoes, we have chosen to lighten it up a little by using a whole chicken and replacing the potatoes with butter beans. It's a satisfying dish to cook and providing you have a pan large enough to cook a whole chicken in, it's the easiest one-pot dinner you can prepare. Finished with a little parmesan and a grating of lemon to cut through the rich stock, it's the ideal dish to settle us into a brisk and breezy winter.
Method
Based on 4 servings, adjust as needed.
Step 1
Start by preparing all the vegetables (carrots, white onions, leek, celery and garlic) as instructed in the ingredients list.
Step 2
Find a large casserole pan, preferably one with a tight-fitting lid that will fit a whole chicken in. Add in a splash of olive oil and turn the heat to medium. Once hot, add the sliced onions, leeks and celery and cook for 6-8 minutes until slightly wilted and softened. Add the thyme chopped garlic and pour in the white wine (if using). Allow to reduce by half before adding the whole chicken to the pot, breast side up. Season the chicken well with salt and pepper.
Step 3
Pour the chicken stock around the bird until it's a little more than 2/3rds covered. Bring to a simmer, place on the lid and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and use a ladle to remove any impurities that will have risen to the surface (the white foamy stuff).
Step 4
After 30 minutes, add the carrots and the drained butter beans and cook for a further 50 minutes. Check regularly that the stock is only gently simmering and not boiling as this will make for a tougher chicken and overcooked vegetables.
Step 5
If serving your meal with warm baguette, pop the oven on 10 minutes before the total cooking time is up and cook the bread according to the packet instructions.
Step 6
Once the carrots are tender and the chicken cooked (you can tell if this is the case by either inserting a temperature probe into the thickest part of the leg and getting a reading of 80°c + or a good indication that the chicken is done is that the meat will have pulled away on the leg and drum stick to expose the bone). Remove the whole chicken carefully from the broth using large tongs. Tip the juices back into the broth that will be sitting in the cavity and be careful not to allow the hot juices to run down your arm! Taste the broth and season a little if necessary.
Step 7
Place the chicken onto a chopping board or large plate and leave to rest for 10 minutes or so before carving. NB, the best way to do this is by first pulling both the legs from the carcass using tongs and cutting through the ball and socket joint at the top of the hip. Use a fork to shred the leg meat and pop it back into the broth. We prefer to remove the skin, but this is our preference. Now, cut down the breast bone of the chicken and carefully pull each breast away from the carcass. You can do this with tongs or 2 forks. Use the natural line of the breastbone to guide you. Remove the skin, slice the breast meat and pop this into the pot to join all the other goodness. You can either save the winglets for a tasty snack in the next few days or remove the meat from these as well.
Step 8
Mix the broth well before serving huge ladles of the broth into large shallow bowls along with a grating of lemon zest, piles of parmesan cheese, warm crusty bread (which will now be ready) and lots of butter on the side, if you wish.
- Ingredients
- Based on 4 servings
-
2 Tins Butter Beans, drained 2x Sainsbury's Butter Beans In Water 400g (235g*) -
30g Parmesan Cheese, grated 1x Sainsbury's Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese 200g -
1 Whole Chicken 1x Sainsbury's British Fresh Medium Whole Chicken 1.6kg -
2 Sticks Celery, washed and sliced 1x Sainsbury's Celery -
2 Onions, peeled and sliced 2x Sainsbury's Onions Loose -
0.5 Lemon, zest 1x Sainsbury's Lemons -
2 Litres Chicken Stock, 1 cube per 750ml 1x Sainsbury's Stock Cubes, Chicken 10x10g -
2 Baguettes Crusty Bread, baked 1x Sainsbury's Bake at Home White Baguettes x2 -
3 Carrots, peeled and cut into 3 or 4 equal pieces 3x Sainsbury’s Carrots Loose -
20g Butter, for the bread 1x Sainsbury's British Butter, Unsalted 250g -
6 cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped 1x Sainsbury's Garlic -
4 springs Thyme, springs 1x Sainsbury's Bunched Thyme 20g -
190ml White wine, approx 1x Clearsprings Sauvignon Blanc (Small bottle) 18.7cl -
2 Leek, washed and cut into 2cm rounds. Discard the very green tops 2x Sainsbury's Leeks Loose