Jilly McCord’s favourite chicken recipes for the whole family to enjoy
We’ve teamed up with BBC MasterChef finalist Jilly McCord to bring you her delicious chicken four ways – perfect recipes guaranteed to warm you up this winter.
If you’re struggling for dinner inspiration, or just want to try something new, these recipes are guaranteed to hit the spot with the whole family. Chicken is a tasty, healthy alternative to red meat, low in saturated fat and high in protein, so is the ideal choice for both mid-week and weekend meals.
Jilly visited our Hopkirk showhome and cooked up a storm with four chicken recipes: a pot roast chicken, perfect for cooking on a Sunday afternoon, a chicken broth soup, cheesy chicken quesadillas and last but certainly not least a butternut squash and chicken risotto. Tempted? Read on, and we’ll share the recipes.
Pot roast chicken
Ingredients:
• 1 large chicken
• 30 g salted butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 200g smoked bacon lardons or chopped smoked back bacon
• 10 banana shallots
• 1 bunch of heritage carrots
• 4 sticks of celery
• 2 leeks
• 300ml dry white wine or cider
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 spoon of crème fraiche
• 2 chicken stock pots
• Bouquet garni
• 1 bunch of fresh tarragon (optional)
Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C fan.
2. Place the chicken on a roasting tray with an onion, carrot and leek chopped into large chunks. Spread some butter over the skin of the chicken and season well. Place in the oven for 20 minutes to brown the skin.
3. Whilst the chicken is browning, in a large cast-iron pot, fry the lardons in a little olive oil until crisp. Now add the shallots and fry until the outside is brown. Add the leeks, carrots, and celery (all chopped into large chunks or if the carrots are small, left whole) and fry on a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Now add the stock, wine/cider, and bouquet garni.
4. After 20 minutes, place the chicken in the pot and return to the oven for one hour – use a skewer to ensure the juices run clear. If you have a temperature probe it should reach 72-75 °C.
5. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan and place on a large chopping board. Joint the chicken to have 2 breasts, 2 legs, 2 thighs and wings, and the brown meat from underneath the carcass. Shred all the meat, stripping the legs, thighs, and wings. Set aside. Retain the bones on a roasting tin. Place the pot on the heat and reduce the remaining sauce by bubbling for around 10 minutes. When reduced and thicker (like a thin gravy), add the crème fraiche and Dijon mustard. Take around a third of the chicken meat and return to the pan.
6. Warm the chicken through and serve with creamy mashed potatoes.
Chicken broth soup
This recipe is great for making use of all the goodness from a roast chicken by making a stock from the carcass. If you are making this recipe without making your own stock, just replace with 2 chicken stock pots (available in all supermarkets) or 2 chicken stock cubes.
Ingredients:
• Chicken bones from recipe 1 to make chicken stock/2 chicken stock cubes
• 1 small bunch of parsley
• ½ mug of pearl barley
• 2 carrots
• 2 leeks
• 4 sticks of celery
• Any additional vegetables you would like included (turnip, celeriac, spring cabbage - optional)
Instructions:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
2. Take the bones from the chicken and place them in the oven on a baking tray with one of the leeks, carrots, celery, and any other vegetables you have for 45 minutes.
3. Add the roasted bones and vegetables to a large soup pan or pressure cooker, along with 1 litre water. Make sure your scrape all the browned bits from the roasting tray and add a little water to get them off the bottom of the tray – this is all good flavour. Place the pan on the hob and simmer for 2 hours or cook for 30 minutes in a pressure cooker. Now strain the stock through a sieve and use half of it for the soup (reserve 750ml of the stock for recipe 4).
4. Once the stock is cooked, chop the remaining vegetables and sauté in a soup pan or pressure cooker for 3-4 minutes. Add the pearl barley and sauté for a further 2 minutes. Now add the chicken stock and simmer for around an hour (or 20 minutes if using a pressure cooker).
5. Serve with chopped parsley.
Cheesy chicken quesadillas
This is an easy and quick recipe – full of colour and flavour. Really fun to make these with children and they can help you build the quesadillas to their taste. The guacamole and pickled pink onions are optional extras, you could also serve with soured cream or salsa.
Ingredients:
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 300g shredded chicken from recipe 1
• 1 tin of refried beans or a can of Mexican black beans
• 1 red chilli or chilli sauce
• 1 tsp chipotle paste
• 1 pack of corn tortillas
• 300g cheddar cheese
• Sour cream for serving
Guacamole:
• 1 avocado
• 1 lime
• 1 chopped tomato
• Small bunch of coriander
• 1 red chilli
Pickled pink onions:
• 1 red onion
• 100ml red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
Instructions:
1. First, arrange all of your ingredients – grate the cheese, chop the peppers into small cubes, chop the red chilli into very small pieces, finely shop the coriander, place the beans in a bow
2. Take 2 tortillas. On one of them spread ¼ of the beans, then ¼ of the chicken, cheese, red chilli and coriander. Place the other tortilla on top.
3. In a thick-based pan with no oil, add the tortilla and dry fry on a medium heat on one side until the cheese is beginning to melt. Now flip the tortilla sandwich over and crisp the other side. Once the filling is warm and cheese is melted, remove from the pan.
4. Keep warm in a low oven and repeat with the remaining ingredients
5. To make the guacamole, chop and half mash the avocado, add the tomato, chopped coriander, lime juice and chilli. Add salt to taste.
6. To make the picked red onions, slice your red onion in half, then slice thinly. Place a pan of water on the hob and bring to the boil. Add the sliced onions for 1 minute then strain. Place the vinegar, sugar and salt in a bowl or jar and add the blanched onions. Leave to pickle for at least 30 minutes (these can be kept in the fridge for several weeks).
7. Serve with some soured cream and salsa (optional).
Butternut squash and chicken risotto
This risotto is a great way of using up leftover chicken. It is a perfect autumnal dish using butternut squash which is in abundance at this time of year. The recipe does take a bit of time at the hob but is worth the effort for a creamy and warming risotto that feeds 4.
Ingredients:
• Remaining shredded chicken from recipe 1 (300g)
• Remaining chicken stock from recipe 2 (750ml)
• 300g risotto rice (arborio or carnaroli)
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 packet of sage
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 50g butter
• 50g parmesan cheese
• 2 banana shallots or 1 white onion
• 1 glass of white wine
Instructions:
1. Chop the shallot/onion into very fine pieces.
2. Peel the butternut squash and chop into bitesize cubes. Place on a baking sheet with half of the olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 180°C for around 35 minutes until the edges are brown.
3. Take the stock and heat in a pan until warm.
4. In the meantime, gently soften the shallot in the remaining olive oil and half of the butter. Once translucent, add the risotto rice and fry with the onions for a couple of minutes without browning.
5. Turn up the heat for a minute, stirring all the time, then add the white wine. Reduce the heat to low, then add a ladle of the chicken stock. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to continue stirring the rice and stock as it absorbs. You should continue to do this for around 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through but not mushy.
6. Now add the shredded chicken into the rice and mix through, add the remaining butter and parmesan cheese, mixing all the time. The risotto should now look creamy and be a little loose in consistency. Take the butternut squash from the oven and gently combine into the risotto, saving a few pieces to place on top.
7. Finally, take the sage leaves and fry until a little crispy, but still green.
8. Serve in a shallow bowl with the crispy sage, butternut squash and another bit of grated parmesan cheese.
We just love how each recipe uses the one pot chicken, allowing nothing to go to waste.
Let us know your favourite chicken recipe and tag us @millerhomesuk and @jillymccordcooks in all your creations.
Happy cooking!