Pot roast chicken with pancetta and cannellini beans
Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 80 minutes
- 150g shallots, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 garlic bulbs, cut in half
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 150g pancetta or streaky bacon, cut into strips
- ½ bottle white wine
- 500ml fresh chicken stock
- 1 bouquet garni (see FYI below to make)
- 1 whole free-range chicken (about 1.5kg)
- 2 x 400g cans cannellini beans
- Small bunch of parsley, leaves chopped
- Zest and juice of ½ lemon
- Mashed potato, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. In a large casserole dish on the
hob, cook the shallots and garlic in 1tbsp olive oil until softened. Add the
pancetta. Cook until the shallots begin to caramelise.
Pour the wine into the pot and bring to the boil, then add the chicken stock
and the bouquet garni. Place the chicken in the pot, cover and cook in the
oven for 20 minutes.
Add the cannellini beans. Reduce the heat to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3 and cook
for a further 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through. The stock and
wine will have been absorbed into the beans but there should be a little
sauce still around the edges.
Remove the chicken, cut into portions and return to the casserole, with the
parsley and lemon to heat through. Serve in deep bowls with mashed potato.
FYI A bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs tied with string – great for
flavouring casseroles, stocks and soups. For Gizzi’s dish try two sprigs of
rosemary, one of thyme, a few parsley stems and a bay leaf.
Gingerbread, pear and blackberry trifles
Makes: 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
For the gingerbread:
- 120g butter, plus extra for greasing
- 120g dark brown sugar
- 120g black treacle
- 170g plain flour
- 2tsp ground ginger
- 2tsp ground cinnamon
- Small grating of nutmeg
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 egg, beaten
- 150ml milk
For the fruit compote:
- 150g blackberries
- 2 pears, peeled, cored and chopped
- Zest of ½ lemon
- 30g sugar
- 250ml double cream
- ½tsp icing sugar
- 600ml fresh custard
- 50g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3. Grease and line the base of a
brownie tin. In a saucepan, melt the butter, sugar and treacle. Leave to
cool for 10 minutes. Sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and
bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
Stir the egg and milk into the butter mix then fold into the flour. Pour into
the tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool on a wire rack.
For the compote, place the blackberries, pears, lemon zest and sugar in a pan.
Cook on a low heat for 5 minutes or until the pears are cooked and the
blackberries syrupy. Leave to cool fully. Whip the cream with the icing
sugar.
Fill six dessert glasses with 2tbsp compote, then a 2cm layer of crushed
gingerbread and 1cm custard. Add whipped cream and a grating of chocolate.
Set in the fridge for 1 hour.
Raise a glass
Fabulous wine guru Rob Buckhaven recommends the best English wines
Sparkling Nyetimber Classic Cuvée (Waitrosewine.com)
has grapefruity confidence.
Blaggers’ guide: “It’s pricey but this amazing bubbly beat many
French champagnes to the accolade of world’s best sparkling wine.” Move
over Moët!
White Three Choirs Vineyards Variations Crisp & Fresh (Tesco.com)
is blossom-fresh and peppery.
Blaggers’ guide: “Prince Charles converted his classic Aston
Martin to run on bio-fuel made from surplus English wine!”
Red Bolney Estate Dark Harvest (Ocado.com)
has a deep damson and smoky violet allure.
Blaggers’ guide: “Thanks to climate change, in a few years we’ll
have English red wines to rival those of Burgundy.”
PHOTOGRAPHY: KAREN THOMAS, ALAMY HAIR AND MAKE-UP: LISA STOKES PROP STYLING:
LEONIE MORSE GIZZIERSKINE.COM
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