It came about by accident, one day. It was a Sunday afternoon and I’d planned on doing a roast chicken and roasting some butternut squash too – a quintessentially Australian thing from my childhood. Everything was ready to put in the oven, but when I went to do so, it stopped working. So I browned the chicken with onions in a cast iron pot, then threw in the squash with some sage and tomatoes from the garden, and let it roast on the stove top. I finished it off with some creme fraiche. My kids couldn’t get over how good it was. “Oh my god, Mom, this is the best thing you’ve ever cooked,” they said. And they still really love it.
They’re both living in the US at the moment – Evie in New York and Holly in LA – and this is the dish they want whenever they’re home. I have dishes like this I always ask my Mom to cook when I go back to Australia – they’re so comforting; they make you feel warm inside. And I know my girls feel the same with this dish. I am so looking forward to Christmas, when they’ll both be home at the same time.
One thing I feel really proud of is seeing my daughters both so completely at ease in the kitchen. They take pleasure in food; they’re interested in it. A friend recently gave me a very old book from the 1920s or 1930s about dessert – no recipes, just paragraphs – from a time when women really did cook all the time. Nowadays, people often don’t seem to have confidence. Throughout my life, I’ve met so many women who have a really complicated relationship with the kitchen, who feel like they can’t cook. So, seeing my kids being so relaxed in the kitchen feels good.
The other day, Holly called me to talk about a dinner she was planning as a welcome-back present for her boyfriend. Their friends often come over and they all end up cooking together. They’re 18-19, and very health-conscious; they love Deliciously Ella. And I think it’s so lovely that they’re interested. It’s like how Jamie Oliver got his generation cooking.
Most days I eat at the restaurant, but when I’m home alone, I just have toast and a boiled egg. But I do find that cooking at home for people gives me pleasure. A lot of my friends live really close and we often cook together. People often ask me: “How do I cook a restaurant meal at home?” I always think: “Why the hell would you want to?” Cooking simply with family and friends is so much more convivial.
Pot-roasted chicken with butternut squash and sage
Serves 6
1 lemon, halved
2 fresh bay leaves (dried is fine too)
A small bunch of fresh sage
1 whole chicken, cavity rinsed out with water, drained and excess fat around neck trimmed off.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and cut into chunks
5 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
1.2kg butternut squash, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1 Put half the lemon, 1 bay leaf and half the bunch of sage inside the cavity of the chicken. Tie the legs together with kitchen string.
2 Heat a large, heavy-based pot or saucepan over a medium heat. Add the olive oil and heat till hot. Brown the chicken a little on each side, for about 10-15 minutes or so in total. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3 Add the onion to the pan and cook till it’s slightly softened, stirring occasionally. Put the chicken back into the pan, and add the remaining ingredients, finishing with the chopped tomato.
4 Give it all a big stir, making sure that the vegetables are nestled around the chicken. The meat doesn’t need to be covered by the liquid. Once the lid is on, the chicken will steam and become nice and tender.
5 Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to medium-low, so it simmers away gently for about 45 minutes. Check the chicken is cooked by inserting a skewer into the thigh: the juices will run clear if it’s cooked.
6 When cooked, remove the chicken and pull apart, distributing it between the individual serving bowls. Stir the creme fraiche into the pan, then dish up vegetables and sauce over the chicken in the bowls. Serve with steamed greens.
- Skye Gyngell is a chef, food writer and author and head chef at Spring, Somerset House, London.
- This article was amended on 27 September to include creme fraiche in the ingredients and method of the recipe.
