Chicken in Milk (with Greenfields)

I don’t know about your kids, but my two have never been huge fans of milk. I don’t think it was so much the milk per se, but more the fact that they are just not big drinkers. Even now, Meips only drinks barely 160ml per day, three times a day. And that’s on good days.

While milk is not their primary source of nutrition now as a toddler and pre-schooler, I still like to incorporate some milk and dairy into their meals to ensure that they are getting enough calcium in their diet. So apart from a cup in the morning, I like to give them cheese and yogurt, and use some milk into my dishes.

One recipe which I have been intrigued by for a while now is a Jamie Oliver recipe (yes, another one!) for Chicken in Milk, so when I was recently given a variety of milk by Greenfields Milk for a review, I thought it would be the perfect dish to show what you can do with milk in a savoury dish. The recipe does sound a bit odd when you first look at it — lemon and milk are an odd combination since lemon is known to split milk and make it curdle. That’s not exactly the the most appetising of images! And with cinnamon too? But trust me when I say that this recipe is quite a winner. The sauce was yummy and we all happily tucked into the chicken, with the curds and all. Just don’t add too much of the rind when zesting the lemons or you might end up with a bitter taste to your sauce like I did the first time round.

I made this chicken with some modifications that I read online, which included cooking the chicken covered for the first hour, and I think it helped make for a more tender chicken than if I had cooked it uncovered the entire time. Do try this if you’re looking for a good one-pot meal to add to the dinner roster.

Chicken in Milk (adapted from this recipe by Jamie Oliver, taken from Happy Days with the Naked Chef.)
(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:
1.6 kg chicken
Salt & Pepper
125g butter (I use the unsalted variety)
½ stick of cinnamon
1 handful of sage leaves
Zest of 2 lemons
10 cloves garlic, skin on
565ml fresh milk

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.

2. Pat your chicken dry (if wet/defrosted) and season the whole chicken generously with salt and pepper.

3. Melt the butter in a pot (of a size that would fit the chicken snugly) and fry the chicken in the butter, turning the chicken to get an even golden colour all over.

4. Remove the pot from the heat, put the chicken on a plate, and throw away the butter left in the pot.

5. Put your chicken back into the pot and add the cinnamon, sage leaves, lemon zest, garlic and milk.

6. Cover the pot and place this in the pre-heated oven for 1 hour. Baste with the cooking juices when you remember. (I do it every 20 minutes or so.)

7. After 1 hour, remove the cover and cook uncovered for a further ½ hour till it’s ready to serve.

Cooking Notes:

♥ Remember not to include too much of the rind in your lemon zest as it might make the sauce bitter. I sometimes squeeze some lemon juice into the milky mixture before sticking it into the oven, which I feel gives it more tang. 

To serve, pull the meat off the bones and divide it onto your plates. Spoon over plenty of juice and the little curds. Suggested sides include wilted spinach or greens and some mashed potato. My kids like to have this with plain penne pasta.

And an additional point on the milk: I was recently introduced to Greenfields milk and was impressed with the fact that it has no additives, chemicals, antibiotics and hormones. The milk comes from the brand’s own integrated dairy farm with over 6000 Holstein cows in East Java, and this means that the milk is produced, pasteurised and packed all on site, minimising the risk of contamination. It’s natural, good-tasting fresh milk, and one that I would drink — and have been drinking — every morning, in addition to using in my cooking. They call it “honest milk” and I think that’s telling it like it is.

* Greenfields Milk is available in variants of Fresh Milk, Chocolate Malt, High Calcium Skimmed Milk (less than 0.1% fat) and High Calcium Low Fat (only 1.3% fat). Available at most supermarkets at $5.95 for a 2-litre bottle (except at FairPrice), $3.25 for a 1-litre pack and, exclusively at 7-11, $1.50 for a 200ml pack. Buy any 2 x 2-litre bottles or 3 x 1-litre packs to get your free limited edition cup. Promotion valid from 12 August, while stocks last and available at major supermarkets and hypermarkets nationwide. Limited to four cups in a single receipt.

* This post was sponsored by Greenfields Milk.