Boiled chicken with leeks and aioli

Ingredients

1)Boiled Chicken and Leeks:

• 1 free range chicken
• 2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
• 2 leeks, chopped
• 1 onion, unpeeled and halved
• 1 whole head of garlic
• 2 sticks celery, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• a bundle of thyme, parsley and rosemary
• 20 or so whole peppercorns
• sea salt
• 6 leeks, trimmed

2)Aioli:

• 10 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• sea salt and pepper
• 2 free range egg yolks
• about 300ml of extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 2 lemons

Preparation

• Place the chicken and all the ingredients down to the sea salt in a large pot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils cover it with a lid, take it off the heat and leave it to cool, which takes about 6 hours.
• Then left the chicken in the broth in the fridge for the day before making dinner next night.
• Remove the chicken from the stock and put it into a clean pot. Strain the stock and put some of it in with the chicken, retaining enough of the broth for another pot to cook the leeks. Bring the stock to a gentle simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
• In a separate pan put the trimmed leeks and the remaining stock. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 7 minutes till tender.
• Serve the chicken and leeks with a splash of the chicken broth, a bowl of the aioli and coarse sea salt. As with any boiled unbrined meat, coarse sea salt applied just before eating is very good.
• 2)Put the garlic into a processer chopping bowl with a pinch of salt and a good grinding of pepper. Whizz until finely pulped, this is important as you do not want garlic chippings in the aioli. Add the egg yolks, let them meet the garlic for a moment, then carefully and slowly add the oil in a gently stream, whisking all the while. The emulsion should safely hold 300ml, perhaps a little more. Now add the lemon juice, tasting as you go. Adjust the seasoning, then refrigerate.

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Photos of members who cooked this recipe

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