In Annie Smithers’s new cookbook, the du Fermier chef-owner traces her culinary journey from dinner parties while growing up in suburban Melbourne to working at Australian culinary icon Stephanie Alexander’s French restaurant, Stephanie's Restaurant, being painted for an Archibald entry and cooking clever, humourous menus designed by the legendary Iain Hewitson at Alphington House wine bar in Carlton, Melbourne.
The book also acts as a pocket history of Victoria’s restaurant scene and the movements of its most influential chefs over the past 40 years.
Interspersed between Smithers’s stories are recipes reflecting a lifetime of cooking, including Aussie child-friendly classic yum yums, cheese beignets inspired by Hewitson’s lighthearted approach to cooking, a few chicken recipes sticking to the principles Smithers learnt at Daylesford’s Lake House and a series of recipes she loves to cook now: white bread, confit duck leg and profiteroles. There’s also a chapter dedicated to cooking for “those in your care who you love, but may not like” and people with dietary requirements (leek, pea and watercress soup; vegan maple beetroot salad; mushroom stroganoff).
This pot-roasted chicken reflects Smithers’s time at Stephanie’s, where she was steeped in French cuisine and techniques, and developed a dedication to seasonality and terroir that continues through to her Trentham restaurant, du Fermier, to this day. She serves a daily-changing menu influenced by what she pulls from the ground of her kitchen garden that morning, and rises early to begin baking bread. This recipe is similarly from-scratch, and well worth the time – it might just become your staple roast chicken recipe.
Annie Smithers’s pot-roasted chicken
Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 hours 45 minutes
Ingredients
40g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1.8kg roasting chicken
Flaked salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning
2 thyme sprigs
1 bunch Dutch carrots, washed
8 pitted prunes
100g kaiserfleisch or bacon, thinly sliced
150ml white wine
Chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
Chicken stock
Makes about 5L, you will need 300ml for this recipe. Store any remaining stock in the refrigerator for up to 7 days or freeze in portions for up to 6 months.
2kg chicken bones
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
4 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
5 thyme sprigs
5 flat-leaf parsley sprigs
1 leek top (optional)
Ingredients
To make the stock, place the bones in a stockpot (7.5–10L), cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Skim off any foam that forms on the surface.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 4 hours, skimming occasionally. Strain, discarding the solids.
Preheat the oven to 180C (fan-forced).
Heat the butter and olive oil in a cast-iron casserole dish over high heat. Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, place breast-side down in the hot fat and cook until golden brown. Continue turning and cooking until the whole bird is sealed and nicely coloured. Remove from the heat.
Position the chicken in the middle of the dish and arrange the thyme sprigs, vegetables, prunes and kaiserfleisch or bacon around it. Pour in the wine and 300ml stock, then return the dish to high heat and bring to the boil. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, transfer to the oven and roast for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and release any steam before carefully removing the lid. Increase the oven temperature to 200C (fan-forced) and roast, uncovered, for another 15 minutes or so to colour the chicken a little more.
This can be served straight from the dish. Carefully portion the chicken, then divide among plates with the vegetables. Ladle over the cooking juices, garnish with chopped parsley and serve with lightly boiled greens or a crisp green salad.
Kitchen Sentimental by Annie Smithers, published by Thames & Hudson Australia, AUD$34.99, available August 27 2024
