poultry
( Irish recipe )
serves 6-8
1 Large Boiling chicken
60-85g dripping ( cooking fat ) or oil
1 onion, chopped roughly
1 carrot, chopped roughly
1 turnip, chopped roughly
1 stick celery, chopped roughly
A bouquet garni
salt & pepper
Parsley sauce
60g / 2oz butter
60g / 2oz plain ( all purpose ) flour
300ml / 1/2 pint chicken
stock
300ml / 1/2 pint milk
300g / 10oz chopped parsley
Put the cooking fat or oil into a large pan ( or pot ) over a low to medium heat. Wash and dry the bird, inside and out, and season well with salt and pepper. Add the bird, and turning, brown the bird well all over, remove the bird from the pan ( pot ).
Add the vegetables to the pan, and cook for a few minutes, return the bird to the pan ( pot ) and cover with boiling water. Add salt, pepper and the bouquet garni. Bring back to the boil, skim, then cover the pan ( pot ) and simmer the contents slowly for about three hours, or 40 minutes to the pound ( 450g ).
When the bird is cooked remove it from the pan ( pot ) and keep hot on a serving dish.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes, remove from the heat and gradually stir in 300ml / 1/2 pint chicken stock. Return to the heat and, when it has thickened, slowly add the milk and continue to cook until it starts to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes, season and add the parsley, serve separately.