Chicken with braised celery & cider

Contains pork – recipe is for non-Muslims only
The perfect dish for warming those chilly nights around the dining table.

  • Prep:15 mins
    Cook:1 hrs 40 mins
  • Serves 4
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 679
  • fat 44g
  • saturates 14g
  • carbs 7g
  • sugars 6g
  • fibre 2g
  • protein 62g
  • salt 1.37g

Ingredients

  • small knob of butter
  • 1 chicken, weighing about 2kg/4lb 8oz
  • 4 rashers smoked streaky bacon, chopped
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • sprig thyme
  • 2 celery hearts, quartered
  • 150ml dry cider (we used Merrydown)
  • 300ml chicken stock

Tip

Cook the chicken upside down
Cooking the chicken upside down first keeps the breast succulent.

Method

  1. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Heat the butter in a large casserole dish and brown the chicken slowly on all sides; this should take a good 10-15 mins. (Be patient, it will pay off later.) Take the chicken out of the dish, throw in the bacon and cook for 3-4 mins until starting to crisp, then add the onion, carrots and thyme and continue to cook for 4-5 mins until the vegetables soften. Stir the celery into the dish, then nestle the chicken amongst the veg, breast side down. Pour over the cider and stock, bring to a simmer, then roast the chicken uncovered for 1 hr.

  2. Turn the chicken the right way up and give it 30 mins more, by which point the legs should be coming away. Carefully lift the chicken from the dish. Check the seasoning of the vegetables and serve with the chicken.

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