The luxury of slow-cooking

June King’s Chicken Hotpot
This all-in-one-pot dish is ideal for family meals and you can double up on the potato quantity if you’re feeding hungry boys. It’s a simple recipe but the dry vermouth and poultry seasoning jazz up the flavour into something a bit special. You can use any combination of chicken portions – the packs of thighs and drumsticks, or chicken quarters, sold in supermarkets are great.

Serves 6

2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 portions skinned chicken pieces (about 1kg in total)
6 potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 carton (284ml) fresh concentrated chicken stock, undiluted
120ml dry white vermouth
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 rashers streaky bacon
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
1 tsp poultry seasoning
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced, to garnish
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped, to garnish
¼ tsp salt
black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Cook the chicken pieces for 10 minutes until evenly browned. Transfer to an ovenproof casserole dish.
2. Add the potato slices to the frying pan and sauté for about 5 minutes on each side until evenly browned. Transfer to the casserole dish. Add the chicken stock and vermouth.
3. Fry the garlic, bacon and onion in the pan for a few minutes, adding more oil if necessary, and scatter on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle with the Herbes de Provence, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.
4. Cook in the oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until the chicken juices run clear when pierced with a sharp knife. If it looks like drying out during cooking, top up with a little water. Garnish with the spring onions and parsley before serving.

Next page: Malabar's Lamb Curry