It would appear I have a thing for chicken. My wife pointed this out after I prepared the indispensable fowl for her using five different recipes in just one week. In my defence, this is not on account of a lack of imagination – it’s down to the endless versatility of the bird, and perhaps my love of a good Sunday roast – so my mother’s fault really.
Chicken thigh meat rolled into little aromatic meatballs for a Thai-inspired soup; crispy, roast chicken skins with rosemary, bound for a buttery popcorn bed (a highly indulgent gem of a recipe from Nigel Slater's recent book Eat); and minced chicken browned with Asian aromatics, shovelled into little gem lettuce leaves for a stand-up supper. Yes, versatility is central to my infatuation.
I have always been drawn to the notion of chicken soup’s comforting properties. Sometimes I go in an Asian direction to make a soy-spiked chicken and sweetcorn soup with silky strands of egg, and other times, I make simple chicken dumplings poached in homemade broth with vegetables.
Whether the healing properties lie in the preparation or the devouring, either way good things come from chicken soup. The recipe I share here is my latest discovery.
Considering the influences of Mexican cuisine on the food of California and indeed my new kitchen, it's little wonder this reincarnation of chicken soup comes with Mexican soul.
Ideally this is a soup for when you can get your hands on fresh cobs of corn at the end of summer, a treat and a rarity in most Irish counties. But for the intervening months, vacuum-packed, frozen or indeed tinned corn will do the job. Those tiny yellow kernels provide a rounded sweetness and bite to a soup, which thrives on the contrast between sweet and a sour smack from a spicy green chilli, lime and coriander salsa.
Another classic comforter is stew – a traditional dish far from unique to our shores. Where we have Irish stew, the French have boeuf bourguignon, the Hungarians serve goulash, and the Italians go big with chicken cacciatore.
Cacciatore means hunter in Italian and, while I don't expect you to don your best waxed jacket and head off to the forest, I do hope that this recipe will invoke the comforting aspects of what this Italian stew was designed for. In Italy there are many variations of this dish, both chicken and rabbit are commonly used, cooked in white wine in the north and red wine in the south.
In more recent times tomatoes make a regular appearance in recipes, most likely to the disgust of the many passionate Italian nonnas, but they add substance to the dish nonetheless.
Two one-pot recipes which will, I hope, help you to share in this love of the humble chicken once again.
Oven baked chicken cacciatore
A rib-sticking meal that takes minimal preparation and then cooks gently in the oven until the sauce becomes rich and the chicken, tender. Best made with chicken on the bone which cooked low and slow delivers a deep flavour.
Ingredients (serves four; cooking time: two hours)
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 4 chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 300g baby potatoes, sliced in quarters
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped
- 150ml white wine
- 700ml pasatta
- 150g mixed olives, stoned
- A small handful fresh basil
- Salt and ground black pepper
Method
Place a large casserole over a medium high heat. Season the chicken pieces all over before browning in the casserole on all sides. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Add a little olive oil to the pot and fry the onion, potatoes and pepper for six-eight minutes until the onions are just tender. Add in the garlic, rosemary and thyme and fry for a further two minutes until the herbs become aromatic.
Pour in the white wine and bring to a steady simmer, cooking for three minutes. Add in the passata, browned chicken and olives and gently turn to coat the chicken in the sauce. Bring to a steady simmer before covering with a lid and placing in the oven to cook for an hour and 30 minutes. Check on the pot every now and then and add a little water if it becomes too dry.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and serve in deep bowls with crusty bread.
Mexican style chicken and sweetcorn stew
If you don’t make your own chicken stock for this recipe be sure to get your hands on the very best quality chicken stock you can, it’s the body of this soup and an important aspect of the recipe. The salsa is also wonderful with grilled meats if you end up with some left over.
Ingredients (serves four; cooking time: 25 minutes)
- 4 chicken breasts
- 700g frozen sweetcorn
- 2.5 litres best quality chicken stock
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- A good handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
For the chilli and coriander salsa
- 3 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- A small handful of coriander leaves and stalks, finely chopped
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
Optional to serve:
- Tortilla chips, to serve
- Lime wedges, to serve
- Avocado slices, to serve
Method
Place the chicken breasts and chicken stock in a medium-sized pot. Place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10-12 minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Skim away any scum that may form on the surface.
Remove the chicken from the liquid using a slotted spoon and allow to cool slightly before roughly shredding into pieces.
Keep the chicken stock at a steady simmer and add in the red onion and sweet corn and continue to simmer for five minutes. Check for seasoning and then remove from the heat and stir through the shredded chicken.
To assemble, pour the stew into deep bowls and top with coriander, tortilla chips and avocado slices. Drizzle the chilli salsa over the top and dig in.
