Jean Christophe Novelli: Delicious casserole of free range chicken with liquorice.
Ingredients
1 whole free range or organic chicken
1 med sliced onions
1 tspn cumin and fennel seeds
1-2 Liquorice sticks
1tspn smoked paprika
4 garlic cloves-cracked
1 sprig thyme
2 bay leaves
500 ml merlot wine
plain flour
clear honey
sea salt and pepper
olive oil
Method
1. Divide the chicken into portions, trim excess skin and fat from the meat and place into a large bowl. Season with salt pepper, thyme, bay leaves, cumin, fennel and paprika adding enough olive oil to coat.
2. Leave this to infuse for at least 1 hr but is more beneficial to the development of flavours if left for at least a day.
3. Heat a heavy based pan up and then carefully place in the pieces of chicken skin side down first to help render the fat within the skin then turn over when browned and colour the other side. Remove from the pan with the herbs and garlic and drain off the excess fat.
4. Add the sliced onions to the pan and sweat down until soft, then introduce the liquorice and mix in. Return the chicken pieces and herbs etc and combine.
5. Add the honey to sweeten about 1 large tablespoon should be sufficient.
6. Sprinkle enough flour to absorb any fat residue and form a basic roux.
7. Stir in the wine and ensure there are no lumps and the sauce is just thickened.
8. Bring to the simmer and cook on the stove top with the lid on for about 25 minutes then turn off the heat and allow to finish the cooking in the pan by which time the chicken should be tender enough but not dropping off the bones.