Having your chicken and eating it.

I am aware that the last post was a bit gloomy and self centered.  So I am going to mix it up a bit now and do a recipe.  This one is dedicated to a certain devilish chicken of my acquaintance, a fair cook himself.
This is a way of making a chicken last for ages.  Or two meals at least.  Thing is the cost of running a house in the U.K. and another in Switzerland means I have to be a bit economic betimes.  This is a variant on Poule au Pot , a dish from the 17th century made famous by Henri IV of France.
First buy a chicken,  In the interest of ethics its best to find a living chicken who is able to state clearly that it wishes to be euthanised.  Sourcing depressed chickens can be tough but the ethical investment is worth it. Get your chicken to undress before it tops itself.
Once your chicken has offed itself, find a saucepan it fits in.  ideally you want one the chicken just fits in lengthwise, leaving room at the sides.  Said pan must have a tight fitting lid.
Check up the chicken for its innards.  If it has removed these for you thats ok but if possible leave the liver and neck in there.  Ram a large sprig of thyme, a large sprig of marjoram, a bunch of tarragon, some strips of lemon zest, 2 bay leaves and if possible a ham knuckle end up the chicken.  This is a good way of telling if it is really dead or just pretending.  Works on people too.
Heat a very small quantity of olive oil in the saucepan until v hot, then pop your chicken in face down to brown.  you can tell when its done because it begins to smell really chickeny.  Carefully fish it out then put it in tits upwards.  Give it the same amount of time on a hot flame, throw in a chopped leek, some chopped celeriac and chopped turnip down the sides of the chicken then pour in enough stock.
Enough is a tricky concept here.  basically too much is a problem.  Best way to judge it is via smut and innuendo.  When my wife is having a bath I like it when she is lying there relaxed with her breasts gently poking out of the surrounding steamy liquid.  The chicken should be the same.  Don't let its breasts get covered by liquid, it spoils the view.
Bring to the boil then turn down the heat to a simmer. Again make sure her tits are poking out of the water, not immersed.  Pop the lid on and simmer for 2 hrs. if it forns grotty froth skim it off
At the end of this time carefully remove the chicken from the pot and put on a draining plate.  Allow the liquid to settle and separate off the fat, retaining it ( the flavour is in the fat). Carefully remove the breasts ( which have been steamed) from your chicken and set aside- these are lovely cold with a simple salad.  This is meal number 1.
Pick the rest of the carcase over.  theres lots of good meat on thighs, drumsticks, back muscles,    all of it will pull off with your fingers.  either shred with fingers or chop, then pop back into the saucepan with the liquid.  Do the same for the ham knuckle if you had one- pick it clean.  Now throw the bones away.
Take the chicken fat and make a paste with it and some plain flour(this is a version of  beurre manie- used to thicken sauces).  bring the liquid to the boil, stir in a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, then stir in spoonfuls of the paste one at a time until the liquid is the desired thickness.  Season with salt and pepper. This glorious mess is halfway between a soup and a stew, and is the chickeniest soup evah.

So there you go  two meals one chicken.  It works best with a stringy old chicken.

for EPD.