Chicken in a Pot

I love chicken soup of all kinds, matzoh balls lying heavy in a pool of hot chicken broth with a sprinkling of mandel (kosher-style oyster crackers), noodle soup, with puffy homemade egg noodles, and pho chicken soup, slurping up the toothsome noodles and dipping your spoon into the slightly piquant, garlicy broth. And now, I even liked poached chicken, ladled into bowls, with loads of fresh springtime veggies, a smattering of beans (lima and fava), and served with a sinus- cleansing fresh horseradish sauce.

Now I know that many of you might be saying to yourself, "Poached chicken? I remember poached chicken like my grandma used to make, coated in a thick, rubbery layer of opaque chicken skin, and the vegetables stewed to oblivion." That description can be true, but there is a remedy to each poaching dilemma. Adding the vegetables in a proper cooking order, according to cooking time, prevents you from getting a mushy pile of grey vegetables. The vegetable choices that you make are key. Rather than the ordinary mire poix of veggies, opt for the less traditional but equally delicious, fennel, turnip, and radish in addition to potatoes, spring onion, and carrot. And the skin-- well, what can be said about the skin; it's a necessary evil. It protects the meat's succulence, and imparts a lot of flavor to the stock, but will have to be peeled off before consuming the chicken. If you're squeamish about doing this, as I am, just get your spouse or friend to do it for you. Problem solved!

This poached chicken recipe, is actually inspired by Jamie Oliver's recipe for Spring Poached Chicken in his latest book Jamie's Dinners. As the daffodils are pushing their way through the soil, and the sun is peaking out from behind the clouds one day, and hidden by storm clouds the next, this dish is the perfect celebration of spring and all its follies. It celebrates the season with its fresh selection of produce, and is warm and homey. The broth that is produced by the poaching liquid is actually quite flavorful, as the entire chicken is poached whole within it. And the horseradish sauce, made from freshly grated horseradish and creme fraiche (although you could use sour cream or yoghurt, if you can't find the latter) offers a much welcomed pungency, to this settling meal. If Spring Poached Chicken sounds like a wonderful weekend treat to you, find the recipe on the Daily Specials page.