Day 111: a woe-banishing, one-pot wonder
It took me some time, but I finally committed to making Nigella’s Chicken in a Pot with Lemon and Orzo at the weekend; I long admired it within the pages of Cook Eat Repeat, and everyone else’s postings of their triumphant cookalongs across social media, but - as usual - I just kept forgetting to add it to each line-up!
I feel like I should be spending a lot more time on each of these entries, considering how long they were at the beginning, but I’m just really struggling for time at the moment. And I doubt I’m the only one desperately scrambling for more of this precious resource, either!
Armed with a very large chicken from the butcher’s, yesterday I was ready to get down to business with this gorgeous looking and heavenly sounding one-pot-wonder.
Nigella’s Chicken in a Pot with Lemon and Orzo
When I say ‘large’, I mean large. I thought most chickens came in at like 1.5-1.8kg (and that’s large in most supermarkets), but this one weighed a whopping 2.5kg, which could justify my perplexment when I had very little space to put the leeks and carrots, let alone the water and orzo. It was on this realisation that I actually took the chicken out to confirm its weight. This recipe and the suggested pot size, by the way, is for a 1.5-1.7kg chicken - so there is no fault to its creator for my space issues.
I had a momentary panic when I could only get in about half of the water; wondering where exactly was going to accommodate the orzo, especially as it proceeded to swell whilst cooking. Despite melodrama, all was fine, and we got the most magnificent centrepiece for our Sunday Dinner: a chicken roasted tenderly huddled in a nest of golden flecks and broth-infused braised veg; the perfume of the gods - tarragon and lemon - rich in the air.
Flavour musings
Good food, to me, should emulate those interactions with our loved ones that make us feel good about ourselves: a warm hug, an uplifting pep talk, a reassuring pat on the shoulder, a slap on the face to wake you up or snap you out of a bad mood, a nod of acceptance, or indeed any act that assures us all is well and life will be okay. Even just for a few moments. Nigella’s Chicken in a Pot with Lemon and Orzo is exemplary of just that. It’s like falling into the arms of a loved one - or your favourite chair - at the end of a long, hard day: it’s smile-inducing and mood-enhancing. An all-round, woe-banishing, one-pot wonder.
This is one I cannot wait to start cooking for family and friends.
