Looking at Jamie Oliver's Chicken in Milk Anatomy of a Recipe

This recipe for cooking whole chicken is still one of our absolute favorites. Between the tender slow-cooked meat and that incredible lemon-sage sauce, there’s so much to love! Just how does this chicken get to be so darn good?

This recipe has a lot of interesting things going on beneath the surface, especially for being so relatively simple! Here’s the original recipe so you can follow along:

• Chicken in Milk from JamieOliver.com

Anatomy of This Recipe

So we’re cooking a whole chicken in good amount of milk in a small pot at a low oven temperature. Does that sound like a braise to you or what?!

We actually really love braising chicken. It’s always tricky to keep chicken from drying out using other methods like grilling and roasting. Braising in gently simmering liquid practically guarantees tender, succulent meat.

Oliver’s recipe doesn’t say to cover the pot, but we’ve found that putting a lid on helps to retain the moisture and infuse more flavor into all of the meat, not just what’s touching the liquid. If your pot doesn’t have a lid, you can simply cover the bird with a double layer of aluminum foil. If you want a little crispy skin on top, you can take off the lid in the last fifteen minutes or so of cooking.

Searing the entire chicken before adding the liquid can be awkward, but it’s totally worth it. Getting the skin nice and golden gives the dish a deep savory note.

The idea of using milk as the braising liquid is really interesting. You can really use any liquid you want, but the milk adds a sweetness that compliments the savory meat, the tangy lemon, and the cinnamon. It also probably helps to tenderize the meat during cooking. Plus it makes that sauce…

And what’s up with the sauce breaking into curds? Check out this post on the effect of lemon oils on milk!

Ways to Modify This Recipe

Stripped down to its bare essentials, the key ingredients to this recipe are the chicken, the milk, and some sort of acid to split the milk and add flavor. You could certainly try this recipe with other meats. We could see duck and pork being especially tasty.

In place of the milk, you could try any other dairy: heavy cream, buttermilk, or even yogurt. We’d thin some of those thicker dairies down to the consistency of milk using a little broth or water.

In place of the acid, you could use limes or even oranges. It might also be interesting to try a few tablespoons of a good, flavorful vinegar or white wine.

And in place of the cinnamon and sage, well, the sky’s the limit! Think about a southwestern version with limes, chipotle chiles, and cumin. Or you could play off of the cinnamon by adding cardamom, anise, and cloves.

Have you made this chicken yet? How have you modified the recipe?

(Image: Faith Durand for the Kitchn)

Comments (10)

I made this recently and am planning on making it again this week for a small dinner party (I seriously almost fainted when I saw that this recipe was on the front page again); it's really very good, and foolproof. I was thinking about how it would be with orange and duck- not exactly a new combination, I know. Also, I would add more garlic cloves to the pot, because they're mild enough to not make the dish garlicky, and that way you get even more of the mushy stuff to put on your bread... and really, fresh bread is the only side this dish needs.

i'm going to make this in our crock pot as soon as it cools down. i'll probably just use a cut-up chicken, sear it in a pan, and scrape the bits into the crock pot on top of the pieces to infuse the liquid.

for what it's worth, i find marinating chicken in yogurt or buttermilk (or even regular milk) is a surefire way to get tender, juicy chicken. season your dairy with salt and pepper and whatever else you like. we like garlic and onion, because we'll often cook up a week's worth of chicken for office lunches, and it helps to keep the flavors neutral.

actually... Does anyone have a wine recommendation for this dish? I am so clueless with that type of thing.

Seriously one of the best reasons to own a dutch oven. SUCH a great recipe.

I bought my Mom a Lodge dutch oven for her birthday so she could make this.

http://whitneyinchicago.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/chicken-in-milk/

This has been in my "sunday night chicken" rotation for the last 2 years. Just a great dish.

Thanks for the crockpot idea Thinkingwoman, I was going to ask if anyone knew a way to cook this without a dutch oven, I dont have one but am dying to try this recipe. Funny it popped up today because I have a bird in there I bought on sale and have been trying to decide how to cook it. I had forgotten I wanted to try this recipe since it was last featured.

Having said that any clue how to cook this without a dutch oven? Crockpot seems tempting but If i wanted to go for the oven I assume I could just brown in a pot on the stove and transfer it and the good brown bits from the bottom of the pot to a regular non-lidded roasting dish and cover with foil?

thanks!

Yeah, I have done basically this recipe in a crock pot and it's lovely. Just sear and transfer, then cook for 6 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

There is a dish from the Lombardy region of italy which slow cooks pork in milk which is most likely the inspiration for this dish. I've made it a few times with skinless pork shoulder and fennel to flavour and it is delicious. I don't use any acid while it cooks (although I did add a splash of lemon juice at the end last time to brighten up the dish a little) and the milk still splits.

Tried a version of this with coconut milk, ginger, garlic, and star anise...the coconut milk didn't split like regular milk, of course, but it was very good. I'd try it again using limes and lemongrass stalks to make it a little more thai-like.

Picture here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arsheffield/3605666075/

Faith: I'm doubtful that you're still checking this post, but I'm wondering if you (or anyone else) could recommend an appropriate cooking time for making this with a 5lb bird. Thanks!