Simple, satisfying and perfect for a light spring meal
Diana Henry is the Telegraph’s much-loved cookery writer. She shares recipes each week, for everything from speedy family dinners to special menus that friends will remember for months. She is also a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, and her journalism and recipe books, including Simple and How to Eat a Peach, are multi-award-winning. A mother of two sons, Diana can satisfy even the fussiest of eaters.
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You might think this recipe comes from Scandinavia – land of dill lovers – but in fact it was inspired by a dish I had in Turkey, where whole fish were cooked on a bed of potatoes and dill (and a little raki). This is a very comforting dish, but light and spring-like at the same time. Serve it with roast tomatoes or a carrot purée. If you’re not a dill enthusiast then make this dish with parsley; it’s different, but just as good.
Overview
Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
1 hr
20 mins
Serves
8
Ingredients
- 10g dill
- 75g unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 2kg chicken
- 1 lemon
- 500g waxy potatoes, peeled
- 4 leeks
- 400ml chicken stock
- 3-4 tbsp dry vermouth
- 4 tbsp crème fraîche (optional)
Method
Step
Preheat the oven to 200C/190C fan/gas mark 6.
Step
Remove the coarser stems from 10g dill and set them aside. Roughly chop the remaining light, leafy parts.
Step
Mash 75g slightly softened unsalted butter with half the chopped dill.
Step
Carefully lift the skin from the breast and legs of a 2kg chicken and push about half the butter under.
Step
Spread the remaining butter over the bird and season. Put in a roasting tin or a flame- and ovenproof dish.
Step
Halve 1 lemon and squeeze the juice from both halves over the chicken, then put the lemon shells into the cavity of the bird along with the dill stalks. Truss the chicken, if you like. Roast for 20 minutes.
Step
Slice 500g peeled waxy potatoes to the thickness of a pound coin.
Step
Trim 4 leeks, discarding most of the dark-green tops. Chop into 4cm lengths and wash thoroughly.
Step
Take the chicken out of the oven and put the potatoes and leeks around it, coating them in the juices. Season.
Step
Pour 400ml chicken stock on to the vegetables with 3-4 tbsp dry vermouth.
Step
Reduce the temperature to 180C/170C fan/gas mark 4 and return the bird to the oven for 1 hour. The potatoes will become tender and the cooking liquid will reduce significantly. If the vegetables haven’t absorbed all the liquid, remove the chicken to a warmed platter and insulate with foil to keep it warm.
Step
Set the roasting tin on the hob and boil until the liquid mostly disappears.
Step
Add 4 tbsp crème fraîche, if using. Heat this through – it doesn’t have to be completely mixed into the vegetables. Check for seasoning.
Step
Put the bird back on top of the vegetables, throw on the rest of the chopped dill and serve.
Extracted from A Bird in the Hand by Diana Henry (Octopus Publishing Group, £30). Order your copy from books.telegraph.co.uk