It’s a slightly old-fashioned kind of dish but I’m rather partial to a pot-roast chicken. It’s the easiest way to guarantee a succulent, perfectly moist bird, especially when you slaver it in plenty of butter too.

This pot roast is very much like the Poulet a l’Estragon I made in France and featured on the blog last year. But whereas that one is a wonderfully aromatic summer dish, this pot-roast is a subtly spiced winter warmer.

Pot-roast chicken with soured cream and allspice

75g butter, softened
1 tsp ground allspice
salt and pepper
1 medium chicken
1 tsp plain flour
150ml soured cream

Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 7.

Place two-thirds of the softened butter in a small bowl and mix in the ground allspice and seasoning. Stuff some inside the chicken and rub the rest onto the skin on the breasts and legs.

Place the chicken on its side in a large ovenproof casserole and cover with the lid. Roast in the oven for around one-and-a-half hours. Halfway through the cooking time, turn the chicken onto its other side and basting with the spicy, buttery juices. When the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear, remove from the oven, and keep warm on the carving board while you prepare the very simple sauce.

Work the flour into the remaining butter and, over a low heat, stir this into the juices in the casserole. Then stir in the soured cream and bring to a very gentle simmer. Taste and add more seasoning if required.

Carve the chicken and pour over the sauce. I served mine with tray baked root vegetables, potatoes, red onion and garlic. Just delicious.

I am entering this pot-roast chicken into December’s Spice Trail challenge as the theme this month is Allspice.