OLD CHICKEN BOIL- UP

It’s pretty hard today to find an old chicken to eat. In bygone days, chooks who had laid their eggs for a year or so were destined for the pot. They were called boiling fowl and had a lovely, strong flavour but could be tough, so it was necessary to boil them. I love this recipe as an alternative to roasting a whole chicken. Once it’s done, use the cooking stock to make a white sauce and mix the chicken into it. It tastes gorgeous on toast! Or you could cook a whole chicken like this and use the meat in sandwiches throughout the week.

1 whole chicken

Salt and pepper

1 carrot

3 celery sticks

1 onion

Herbs (I use a bay leaf, several sprigs of thyme and rosemary all tied together in a bouquet garni)

1 Sprinkle the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, rubbing into the skin.

2 Pop the chicken in a large pot or heavy casserole dish and put the rest of the ingredients in with it.

3 Cover with cold water, put on the lid and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1½-2 hours

– it is cooked when the flesh begins to fall off the bone.

4 Drain and serve on a bed of rice or noodles, or make a white sauce out of the stock and add the chopped-up chicken to that.