Name: Why cooking chicken in milk makes the most tender roast you’ll ever eat
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 130 min
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons fennel seeds; 2 teaspoons ground coriander; 1 teaspoon paprika; 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest; Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season; 25g butter, chopped; 6 chicken thigh cutlets, skin on; 2 leeks, trimmed, thickly sliced; 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; 8 small baby potatoes; 2 large carrots, thickly sliced; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 1 cup milk; 1/2 cup chicken stock; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 150g green beans, trimmed, cut into 4cm lengths; Dill sprigs, crusty bread, to serve

There’s a reason chefs and cooks swear by roasting chicken i n milk. BHG’s senior food editor Sarah Murphy says: “The lactic acid in the milk helps to tenderise the chicken as it cooks, resulting in a fall-apart, super juicy meat. Plus you also get a delicious sauce to serve with your chicken as the milk cools down.” It may feel unusual at first, but once you try it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner!

This one-pot recipe leans into cosy winter flavours: fennel seeds, coriander and paprika plus a hit of lemon zest and juice to cut through the richness. Don’t be put off by the ingredients list – everything comes together in one pan, so it’s minimal fuss and the results are far more impressive than the effort involved.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season

25g butter, chopped

6 chicken thigh cutlets, skin on

2 leeks, trimmed, thickly sliced

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

8 small baby potatoes

2 large carrots, thickly sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup milk

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons lemon juice

150g green beans, trimmed, cut into 4cm lengths

Dill sprigs, crusty bread, to serve

Method

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Combine fennel seeds, coriander, paprika and lemon zest in a small bowl. Season.

Step 2

Put butter in a large, heavy- based baking dish. Place chicken, skin side up, in the dish. Arrange leek around chicken. Sprinkle chicken with spice mixture and drizzle with oil. Bake for 30 minutes or until the leek softens, stirring halfway through cooking.

Step 3

Remove chicken from dish. Add potatoes, carrot and garlic to the dish, tossing with the leek. Pour the milk, stock and lemon juice into the dish (the mixture will separate). Season. Return chicken to the dish.

Step 4

Cover dish and bake for 1 hour, turning potatoes and drizzling chicken with the sauce halfway through the cooking time. Bake, uncovered, for a further 30 minutes or until the chicken and vegetables are tender.

Step 5

Meanwhile, place beans in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes.

Step 6

Add beans around the chicken, then bake for a further 10 minutes or until tender. Sprinkle with dill and serve with crusty bread.

One pan winter roast chicken in milk — *(Photography: Tim Roberts | Styling: Michele Cranston | Recipe: Kim Coverdale)*

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Recipe Developer Kim Coverdale Recipe Developer

Kim Coverdale is a recipe developer and food writer with more than 25 years of experience in Australian food publishing. Trained at the Australian Women's Weekly Test Kitchen — one of Australia's most trusted homes of recipe development — Kim has spent her career creating, testing, and perfecting recipes for some of the country's leading food titles. Every recipe she develops is rigorously tested to ensure it works reliably in home kitchens, not just professional ones.

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Writer Tahni Mesann Digital Editor

Digital editor Tahni Mesann has been obsessed with interior design and writing for as long as she can remember. She followed these passions first into formal education (graduating from The University of Sydney with a BA in Media and Communications) and then into her career as an interiors journalist, where she has contributed to the digital arm of almost every homes title in the country including Better Homes and Gardens, Home Beautiful, Australian House & Garden, Belle, Inside Out, Homes to Love and more. When Tahni isn’t writing about celebrity homes or the latest cleaning hack, you can find her hunting for things she’ll never buy on Facebook Marketplace or listening to a record on a 70s-era turntable restored by her dad.

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