Howtowdie
A traditional Scottish pot-roasted chicken stuffed with savoury herb-flecked oatmeal, served over buttered spinach and topped with soft poached eggs.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 60 min
- Total
- 85 min
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 620 kcal
Equipment
- •heavy casserole dish
- •frying pan
- •shallow saucepan
- •slotted spoon
- •kitchen string
Nutrition
Per serving, approximate
- Calories
- 620 kcal
- fat
- 38 g
- carbs
- 19 g
- fibre
- 4 g
- protein
- 48 g
- calories
- 620 kcal
Instructions
- 1
Melt half the butter in a frying pan over medium heat on the hob.
- 2
Add the chopped onion and fry gently until soft and sweet, about six minutes.
- 3
Stir in the pinhead oatmeal and cook for three minutes until lightly toasted.
- 4
Remove the pan from the hob and mix in the parsley, thyme, salt, and white pepper.
- 5
Spoon the warm oatmeal mixture loosely into the chicken cavity and tie the legs with kitchen string.
- 6
Melt half the remaining butter in a heavy casserole dish and brown the chicken all over until golden.
- 7
Pour the chicken stock around the bird, cover tightly with a lid, and simmer gently for 50 minutes.
- 8
Melt the remaining butter in a clean pan, add the spinach and nutmeg, and cook until wilted.
- 9
Poach the eggs in a pan of barely simmering water for three minutes until the whites are softly set.
- 10
Lift out the chicken, carve into joints, and arrange over a bed of spinach with the stuffing and poached eggs.
Chef's tips
Do not pack the oatmeal stuffing too tightly into the cavity because the grain expands considerably as it absorbs juices. Use very fresh eggs for poaching so the whites stay compact and neat around the yolks.
Ingredient substitutions
- pinhead oatmeal → rolled porridge oats or medium stoneground oatmeal
- mature spinach → young shredded spring cabbage or kale
Storage
Keep leftover chicken meat and oatmeal stuffing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.
Reheating
Reheat carved chicken and stuffing in a covered dish with a splash of stock at 170°C until piping hot, then poach fresh eggs to serve.
Common mistakes to avoid
- •Boiling the poaching water rapidly, which causes the delicate egg whites to shred apart.
- •Over-browning the oatmeal in the dry pan, which imparts an acrid, bitter flavour to the stuffing.
Serving suggestions
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