Rich, juicy and flavoursome, these basic meals guarantee a fuss-free feast.
I love pot roasting at this time of year. It's such an easy and delicious way to cook. This chicken recipe is a favourite, no-fuss dinner of mine - put all the ingredients in one pot, throw it in the oven and relax. Like any one-pot meal, it concentrates all the lovely juices and flavours and is also a great way of cooking cheaper cuts of meat, such as brisket or chuck. If you use one of these cuts of beef, make sure you brown it well in the pot in which you cook it, as this retains all the caramelised flavours that will transfer back into the meat when it's cooked.
This sort of cooking can be done in a stainless steel or cast-iron pot, or a casserole dish with a close-fitting lid, but I like to use a terracotta pot. Seasonal vegetables such as parsnip, pumpkin or celeriac, can be added to the pot while you cook the chicken.
The pear recipe can be adapted with different fruit, such as apples or even quinces - but with quince, cook it for an extra hour at the start.
2 tbsp butter
150g eschallots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
150g pancetta or streaky bacon,
cut into strips
1 free range chicken, about 1.5kg
250ml white wine
Bouquet garni (a sprig of thyme, parsley stems and a bay leaf tied together)
Small bunch of parsley, leaves chopped
Heat oven to 180 degrees. Melt half the butter in a large pot that will hold the chicken, and cook eschallots and whole garlic cloves until softened. Add pancetta and cook until eschallots begin to caramelise, then remove mixture and set aside for later.
In the same pot, melt remaining butter and brown chicken on all sides, then return caramelised vegetables to the pot. Add wine and allow to bubble up, then cook for five minutes, stirring and scraping browning bits from bottom of pot.
Tuck in bouquet garni, cover pot and cook for one hour, or until chicken is cooked through - check by cutting between the thigh and breast to see if juices run clear. Remove chicken from casserole, cut into eight pieces and keep warm.
Simmer cooking sauce until reduced by two thirds, then add parsley. Return chicken to pot to heat through and serve.
Serves 4
2 tbsp butter
300g natural yoghurt
Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Peel two strips of zest from lemon. Peel pears and slice one centimetre off the bottom so they can stand up. Place in pot tightly with lemon zest, sugar, honey, and butter.
Bake pears with lid on for 40 minutes, then turn pears onto one side and bake for 20 minutes. Turn onto other side and bake 10 minutes.
Stand pears up, baste with juices and bake five minutes. Repeat, basting every five minutes for another 20 minutes. Keep roasting until cooked through. Serve with hot caramel sauce from the pot and a spoonful of yoghurt.
Serves 6
75ml extra virgin olive oil
1 large brown onion, sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
Small pinch saffron threads
2kg royal blue potatoes, peeled and cut into 3cm dice
1 tbsp salt
500ml chicken stock
350ml fino sherry
1 tbsp chopped parsley
In a heavy-based pot, heat oil and cook onion with oregano and saffron. Add diced potato and salt and cook for five minutes. Add stock and sherry and simmer until potatoes are tender and stock reduced. Add parsley and salt to taste.
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