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Why it doesn’t have to be shell on Earth for chickens we eat
Claire Latimer backs a high-profile campaign launched by celebrity chefs urging the public to help bring an end to battery-farm chickens
WELL, now that Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall and Jamie Oliver have come together with television programmes and exposed the appalling conditions in which chickens are reared in battery farms it means that I can get on my hobby horse again and echo their thoughts.
If I leave my own chickens in their smallish run for a day or two, when I do let them out they leap, hop and skip round the garden for a few minutes just to stretch their wings. So what these poor birds do cooped up all their short lives in these horrible cages is hard to imagine.
Let’s not wait for government laws to change, but get out there and buy high-welfare birds. Look at the labels in supermarkets and ask in any restaurant where the chicken meat has come from and refuse to eat “unhappy meat”. The cost will be more, but I am sure that you would rather eat a little less and be sure that the bird has had a happy life.
Roast chicken with black pudding stuffing and bread sauce
For extra indulgence, a little red or white wine can be added to the gravy and, of course, if you do not like black pudding, then just leave it out. Serve with some roast potatoes, perhaps cooked in goose fat left over from Christmas, and a crunchy green vegetable.
Ingredients
(Serves 5)
1 small black pudding, approx 225g
1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
1.8kg free-range chicken
5 rashers bacon
Freshly ground black pepper
5 chipolata sausages – optional
1 tbsp flour
300ml chicken stock or water.
For the bread sauce:
Half an onion, peeled, halved and studded with 5 cloves
300ml full-fat milk
2 bay leaves
50g fresh, white breadcrumbs
25g butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6). Mix the black pudding with the apple and then use it to stuff the cavity of the chicken loosely. Place the chicken in a roasting tin and cover with the rashers of bacon. Grind on some black pepper and roast in the oven for half an hour. Add the chipolatas, if using, then continue to cook for a further hour.
Meanwhile, make the bread sauce. Put the onion in a small saucepan with the milk and bay leaves and slowly heat to simmering point. Turn off the heat and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. Strain the milk into a jug and discard the flavourings. Return the milk to the pan and add the breadcrumbs and butter. Season with salt and pepper, then stir over a low heat, adding more milk if mixture is too thick. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Remove the chicken from the oven and check whether it is cooked by gently pulling one of the legs away from the body – it should come away easily and no blood should run. Place the chicken on a serving dish and keep warm.
To make the gravy, drain off most of the fat from the roasting tin, reserving the meat juices, and sprinkle and stir in the flour to soak up the remaining fat. Add the chicken stock or water and bring to the boil, stirring well. Check seasoning and then pour into a gravy boat
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