Chicken dill casserole

I have written before about the very Swedish dish dillkött, a stew with a subtle sweet-sour taste and lots of dill. It is traditionally made from beef, but during my pregnancy I stumbled upon a recipe where you use chicken instead. The recipe is from the book "Mat för gravida och ammande", food for pregnancy and nursing, by Gunilla Lindeberg and Marie Löf.

Even though I like beef it just is a little easier to use chicken, not so much carving and trimming involved. Also, the mild meat is excellent to use in this stew and I have made it several times now...you try it too, wether you are pregnant or not!

Dill chicken
Serves 5-6

1 whole chicken, fresh or thawed
about 2000 ml water
2 tsp salt
5 whole white peppercorns
3 whole cloves
dill stalks
1 carrot in large pieces

Sauce
500 ml stock from the chicken
100 ml cream (or milk)
3 tbsp flour or 4 tbsp corn starch
100 ml fresh or frozen dill, finely chopped
1-2 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
salt and pepper

Bring the water, spices, salt, dill stalks and carrot to the boil, put the chicken in and let it simmer for 40-45 minutes. Remove skin and bones and cut in nice pieces. Strain the stock and reduce to 500 ml, or take 500 ml and make it stronger with one of those very handy stock cubes. Whisk cream and flour together and stir in the stock. Let it boil for a few minutes until it thickens a little. Mix in the dill and spice to taste with the lemon juice or vinegar, salt and pepper.
Serve with boiled potatoes and some salad.