Lemon Chicken for the Soul
This lemon chicken recipe is one that has given me great comfort and great solace at the dinner table in my sister, Ines' house, in London town. It is so good, so comforting, so gentle on the stomach and the soul, a dish I absolutely love every time I am lucky enough to eat with them. In fact the last time I had this delicious dish was at the end of a 48 hour stomach disaster, details of which, well, I won't go into them, but the sweetest thing my sister said when she picked me up at the train station (after a 7 hour blast through France on the TGV) was that Helen, Nick's mum, was cooking up lemon chicken back at the house. My stomach still worn out and starved for real nourishment was longing for some gentle sustenance just like this. And of course it delivered. Just what I needed.
I have been meaning, for a long time, to get the recipe but for whatever reason it took the impending blizzard this past weekend, to send out an SOS. My sister texted me the ingredients and Nick sent on the recipe a short while later. Here it is:
A whole Chicken, ideally organic
Half an onion
2-4 carrots
A leek or two
Some parsley
Bay leaf
pepper corns
For the Roux:
Equal parts butter & flour
A lemon!
Chicken stock (from the pot)
You do need a pot that is big enough to fit a whole chicken... that be the only prerequisite besides ingredients above. Pop your chicken in that pot with the half onion, the leek(s), 2 of the carrots, the parsley, bay leaf and some pepper corns. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and then simmer for an hour and a half or until cooked. This be a poached chicken (sounds much nicer then boiled chicken, don't you think?). It's cooked when the juices run clear, no pink.
If you remember, (and I didn't), add the second two carrots about a half an hour before the chicken is done so they are not too overcooked and good for eatin.'
Once the chicken is cooked you need to make the roux. Equal parts butter and flour (I did 4 tablespoons butter / flour because I wanted plenty of sauce. I actually could have done more. I had enough sauce but... I'm a sauce girl so, next time I'll really go big or go home and try five, just so there is plenty for everyone, and some left over). If you've never made a roux, it's not complicated: melt the butter, make sure it's sizzling hot, throw in the flour and cook it for a minute or two. It will get lumpy. No worries. Stir vigorously, try to stop it from sticking and then after that minute or so has passed start adding, very slowly at first, some of the chicken stock. Keep stirring, add slowly, until your sauce reaches the right consistency... like a thick double cream as Nick describes it. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. "Make it lemony!" Nick says. I used, I reckon the juice of half a lemon, and could probably have used more.
Eat with basmati rice and peas. (My sister is quite emphatic about the peas).
So good, I can't tell you. I hope you try it and enjoy.