Kitchen Garden Cook

Serves 4

Melanie Johnson cooks purple sprouting broccoli

Ingredients

1 free-range chicken 1 chopped onion 2 chopped carrots 2 chopped celery sticks 1 sprig rosemary 3 sprigs thyme 150ml white wine 500ml chicken stock

1 slice sourdough bread, broken into crumbs 1 crushed clove garlic 50g chopped walnuts 100g pomegranate seeds Zest of 1 lemon

400g purple sprouting broccoli

Method

Preheat your oven to 180˚C/350˚f/gas mark 4. Brown the whole chicken in a large, ovenproof, lidded casserole dish, with a splash of olive oil, for about 10 minutes. Remove the bird to a plate.

To the same casserole dish, add the onion, carrots, celery and herbs. You will discard these at the end, so no need to chop too perfectly (but see the recipe for soup, left). Fry until the vegetables start to soften, then pour in the white wine and simmer gently to reduce, before adding the stock. Return the chicken to the dish, put the lid on and cook in the oven for about an hour or until the juices run clear.

Meanwhile, gently fry the breadcrumbs, garlic and walnuts in a little olive oil. Once lightly browned, remove them from the heat and stir in the pomegranate seeds and lemon zest. Steam the purple sprouting broccoli gently for a few minutes, so it retains its colour.

When it’s ready, remove the chicken from the oven and strain the cooking juices into a jug, discarding the vegetables (but you could eat them, if you wish).

Carve the meat and divide between four plates, with the purple sprouting broccoli on the side. Top with the pomegranate-and-walnut mixture and a little of the cooking juices and serve immediately.