Monday 19 March 2012

Gwyneth's ten-hour chicken and quick huevos rancheros

I am so pleased to finally cooked this absolutely delicious ten-hour roast chicken from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook. I read loads of great reviews about it on-line and after my first bite, now I know why. After testing Heston's method for roasting chicken not a long time ago, I don't think I'll ever roast chicken the same way again. Low and slow are definitely the way forward (and brining if I can remember).

There's hardly any prep here... just simple basic ingredients: great quality chicken, lemon, thyme, garlic, coarse salt and black pepper. That's it! You start by rubbing the washed and dried chicken with lemon juice. Then generously sprinkle the chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper all over, not forgetting the cavity. Tuck half a lemon, a small bunch of fresh thyme and several peeled garlic cloves in the cavity. Place the chicken in a roasting tin, breast side down. Wrap the tin tightly with foil and put it in a preheated 110 C oven for 9.5 hours. Do nothing to it, just get on with your day.

When the chicken had its time, take it out of the oven and boost the heat to 200 C. Unwrap the foil and don't be surprised even after 9.5 hours of cooking, the chicken will still look a bit pale. Place the chicken breast side up now. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper. Put it back in the oven and let it roast for 15 - 20 minutes or until it's nicely browned.

Let the chicken rest to let all the juices come back to the centre, then carve (or shred in my case) and enjoy with its lovely cooking juices, no need for gravy.

The chicken is so deliciously tender and it just melts in your mouth. "Oh, so good" is an understatement...


I served the chicken with colcannon, that is Irish mashed potatoes which was definitely appropriate for St. Patrick's Day. I start by making a simple mash with potatoes, milk, garlic butter, nutmeg, salt and pepper; and to that I added sautéed savoy cabbage and bacon with Worcestershire sauce and chopped parsley. Sublime.

The leftover mashed potatoes are then turned into potato patties for last night's tea. The patties are covered in white breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, black pepper and paprika before frying until crunchy and golden brown. To be honest, I could simply eat the patties with some brown sauce, but because it's the weekend and I wanted something special, so I made my quick version of the delicious Mexican breakfast, huevos rancheros.

I start by cutting a link of spicy chorizo sausage into quarters and fry them in an oil-less iron cast pan over medium heat. Let the chorizo renders its fat and then add some chopped onion and one red chilli, seeds and all. Let the onion soften and then add a can of chopped tomatoes. Fill half of the can with water, swirl it around and add it to the pan. You don't have to do this, but I always add just about a teaspoon of sugar to balance the acidity from canned tomatoes. Next, slice some cherry tomatoes into halves, but leave some whole too and add them to the pan. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Let the sauce comes to a boil and then cover and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Then crack some eggs directly into the sauce and sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper. Put the lid back on and cook the eggs for a couple of minutes or so, I like my yolks still runny.

Sprinkle with some chopped parsley or coriander, whichever one you have and wedges of lemon. Breakfast for dinner... my favourite.

38 comments:

  1. wow - this i must try. Putting the dinner on at breakfast time and forgetting about it sounds IDEAL! (Though i was once assured that this is the beauty of a crockpot, it seems that no matter what the meat/sauce/seasoning I put in the damn thing, the final result always ended up tasting the same. A palatable but unmistakable essence de slocooker. Put me right off. Just me?) And that breakfast photo is amazing!!

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    1. Thanks! I love my iPhone. Much better than my camera. Do try this. I think you'll enjoy it. I get what you mean with slow-cookers. I am with you :)

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  2. Oh, goodness.. one absolutely fantastic meal turns into another! I love it!

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    1. Thanks Jenn! I absolutely love leftovers and turning them into 'new meals'.

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  3. This roasted chicken looks amazing...You are right, low and slow is the way to go. Wow. I also really like the irish style of mashed potatoes with nutmeg-nice touch.

    Cheers.
    Velva

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    1. Thanks Velva. I just think a little bit of nutmeg is simply delicious in mashed potatoes.

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  4. You know I love this chicken but those eggs!!! Wiwowowow!!!!

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    1. I know you love this chicken Dom! Now, I do too. Thaaanks!!

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  5. right thats it, too many people have been going on about 10 hour chicken. I need to have a go at it especially if it is has good as people say.

    That breakfast looks superb as well

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    1. Thanks! Do give it a go Gary. Honestly, the chicken is so juicy and tender.

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  6. I love that breakfast for dinner! So delicious!

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  7. looks so good :-) hope your well sorry its been a while

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    1. Thanks Rebecca. You've been missed :) Hope you are well too.

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  8. I like the idea of roasting a chicken low and slow-I mean how good is lamb when it's cooked like that? :D

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    1. Lamb is so good cooked low and slow! I might have to do that this coming weekend just to remind me :)

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  9. Wow! another healthy recipe dish.. perfect for my diet. thanks for sharing. I'm gonna share this to my mom because she loves new and healthy food.

    zonia

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    1. Hi Zonia. Thank you for your kind comment. Let me know what you and your mom think once you cooked this chicken :) You can always serve it with loads of greens to make it even healthier.

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  10. Delicious blog! Happy to join you!

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    1. Thanks mr. pineapple man for joining! :)

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  11. Hello Michael!Long time no see, I am sorry for my absence. I just wanted to thank you for your kind comment on my blog and also, this chicken looks absolutely great!Looking forward to give it a try!

    Thanks again for your comment, you're always welcome!

    Annalisa

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    1. I know... long time no see. You've been missed. Enjoy your vacation.

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  12. i've heard so much about gwyneth paltrow's 10 hour chicken! i think it might have been on dom's site actually. sheesh I really MUST give it a go now.

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    1. Yes, Dom convinced me to give this a go! He's great isn't he? :)

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  13. Great minds think alike, Michael. Just the other day, I also made breakfast for dinner, some leftover chopped cooked veggies, and combined with a little tomatoes with poached eggs to top it with!
    Love your version a lot, and the roasted chicken is "out of this world" super moist, and delicious!

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    1. Indeed Elisabeth... I am more than happy to eat breakfast several times a day!

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  14. This sounds amazing. I'll have to give this method a try. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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    1. Thanks Mary. I do hope you enjoy this chicken.

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  15. Wow! I am super intrigued about this 10 hour chicken! I'm am definitely going to give it a try soon because I usually make whole roast chicken once a week anyways.

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    1. Thanks Russell. Give this a go. I am curious what you think about it :)

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  16. What a great recipe! I am going to get me a bird this weekend and give this a try! Oh and your leftovers dish looks utterly delicious!

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    1. Thanks Jeannie. Enjoy! I think you won't be disappointed.

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  17. We dumped our slo cooker a couple of years ago. The solution to everything tasting the same seemed to be to add spices at the very end. But, then who cares? I am absolutely going to make 10-hour chicken - as soon as I have 10 hours. LOL

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    1. I still have my slow cooker, though it's not used that often. Might donate it soon...

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  18. Michael, the chicken sure looks great...like the idea of preparing the chicken and let it cook for 10 hours and having a lot of free time for other things.

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  19. You've been cooking up some delicious meals, Michael! Your chicken looks wonderful.
    I took our Champ after St. Patrick's Day and did the same thing you did with your colcannon... lightly coated them and fried them up. Yum!

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  20. This might sound like a really silly question but are the cooking temperatures stated for fan assisted or standard ovens?

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    1. Hi Graham. Sorry I don't have Gwyneth's cookbook with me at the moment to check. But at the flat I use standard electric oven, not fan assisted. Hope that helps.

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