- Ingredients: Serves 4
- 1 x 1.5kg free-range chicken, jointed
- 2 tbsps flour, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- olive oil
- 12 baby onions
- 1 large carrot
- 75g unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 330ml Belgian blonde ale
- 2 white chicory heads, halved lengthways
- 1 pinch caster sugar
- 200ml chicken stock
- 200ml double cream
- 2 tbsps chopped parsley
- sea salt and black pepper
Chicken & chicory with Belgian blonde ale - Back in the Saddle
Hayden Groves
12th January 2018
Chicken & chicory with Belgian blonde ale - Back in the Saddle
Belgian food is often rich with cream and butter, and is among some of the most underrated in Europe.
And as for Belgian beer, well — need we say more?
Ingredients
Method
Dust the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour and brown thoroughly in a thick-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat with a good glug of olive oil.
Meanwhile prepare the vegetables: peel the baby onions, leaving a little stalk on to keep them whole; peel and thickly slice the carrot.
When the chicken is browned add half the butter, the onions, carrot, garlic and bay leaf and cook for a further 3 minutes.
Add the beer and allow this to reduce by half, scraping the sediment from the bottom of the pan. Place a lid or cover the pan tightly with foil and cook very gently for 15 minutes.
Sprinkle the chicory halves with caster sugar, heat the remaining butter in a frying pan and over a medium heat fry them, cut side down, for 2-3 minutes until they are a light golden colour. Flip over and cook on the reverse for a minute, then add the chicken stock and simmer for 5 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 140°C/275°F/gas mark 1. Transfer the chicken to a casserole dish, add the chicory, cream and buttery stock juices and cook for a further 30 minutes until the chicken is very tender. Add the chopped parsley, check the seasoning and serve in a warmed dish with crusty bread to mop up the sauce, and a few chilled Belgian beers.
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