Poached chicken is a soothing dish but often dismissed as being bland. In fact all poached meat has got itself a bad reputation in the country, maybe we used to boil the hell out of it, like we were wont to do with vegetables, leaving it grey and unappetising. Well set your prejudices aside, cooking meat at a bare simmer produces not only tender, moist meat but also a crystal clear stock sufficient to serve before as a broth. The broth is further flavoured by the vegetables that will accompany the chicken.

In case you do find poached chicken a little too subtle (dull) for your tastes I’m suggesting that you serve it with this pungent salsa verde - which is actually a gremolata mix with some additions. The poaching sceptics amongst you should be pleasantly surprised.

Ingredient - serves 4

1.8kg whole chicken
8 small-medium carrots
8 well trimmed stalks of celery
4 small leek
1 small fennel bulb
salt, peppercorns

20g parsley, finely chopped
20g fresh mint, finely chopped
1 shallot, peeled & finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed & finely chopped
juice & finely grated zest of a small lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper

Method

Peel and trim the carrots; trim the celery to a sensible serving length and wash; trim the leek and wash; wash the fennel and cut into quarter wedges. Set aside. Mix all the salsa ingredients in a bowl and keep at room temperature.

Place the chicken in a large saucepan or casserole and add sufficient water to cover. Add a pinch of salt and a few whole peppercorns and bring to the boil. Skim any impurities that rise to the surface and make sure that the chicken remains covered with water then reduce the heat to achieve a bare simmer. From this point cook the chicken for 40 minutes and then add the vegetables to the pot. Again make sure that the liquid is covering the chicken and is back to a bare simmer. After a further 30 minutes the chicken should be cooked through (test it to make sure there are no pink juices if a skewer is pushed into the thickest part of the thigh) and the vegetables tender.

Remove the chicken and vegetables from the broth to a warm dish. Discard chicken skin and carve. Divide chicken and vegetables between 4 warmed plates, spoon over some broth, and serve with salsa verde and crusty bread.