Baked Chicken…

This recipe is an excellent easy supper for just the two of you, or for friends & family & can be easily reheated if necessary…

At the moment in my house it is impossible for me to know who is here for a meal & who is not? So I have to be flexible… I had some left over home grown tomatoes in a bowl, some mushrooms sitting in the fridge that had to be used up, so add in a lemon & a jar of olives & it makes one of my favourite meals that can be used straight away or heated up at a later time in the day…

INGREDIANTS

• Chicken thighs - If they are small two each!

For the spice paste:-

• Garlic - Use as much as you like, chop it fresh, or use prepared in a jag

• Smoked Paprika - A few pinches to taste

• Ground Turmeric - Heaped teaspoon per 2 thighs

• Cumin Seeds - Quarter teaspoon per 2 thighs

• Salt & Olive Oil - Oil - Enough to make a thick paste to coat the chicken & salt to taste

  If you are being a purist, use a pestle & mortar and bash into a thick paste & cover the chicken, or just give it a good old hard mix before covering the chicken with the mixture. Cover with clingfilm & put into the fridge if you have time for a few hours or ideally overnight.

Preparations

• Jar of Olives - Use as many as you like

• Lemon - Sliced

• Tomatoes - Sliced, use what you have, or use a tin

• Crushed Chili - I live with someone who loves chili, but use what you like or omit

• Onions - 1 per 2 thighs - Sliced

• Mushrooms - Sliced

• Saffron strands - A good pinch, but don’t go over board with this flavour!

• Olive Oil or Rapeseed

OKAY - Let’s get cooking!

1. Heat the oven 180 degrees / Gas 4

2. Take the chicken out of the fridge & allow to come back to room temperature for about half an hour.

3. Heat up a good glug of oil in a pan, once hot place the chicken in the hot oil & leave to cook, don’t prod it about! After about 7-10 minutes carefully turn the chicken over, if it is sticking to the pan leave it a little longer, once turned leave another 7 minutes on the other side to colour. Remove all the chicken to a side plate. Pour off any oil, do not scrape off any of the bits attached to the pan base, that is your flavouring.

4. Add a little fresh oil to the hot pan. Pan fry your onions until they just catch at the edge. As the pan gets dry add a very good glug of water, if you want to be ‘posh’ wine, but to be honest this recipe is so flavoursome it does not need the wine! And that is coming from me!! Season with salt & pepper.

5. Add all the other ingredients, & just bring to a light boil, put a further glug of water enough to just come up to the quarter of the ingredients in the pan or a bit less. I like to put the lemon wedges on the top, the sugar in them will distribute through the ingredients and it looks very decorative when they are baked in the oven as the edges catch. Bake for about 45 minutes.

6. The sauces in this Baked Chicken are divine, giving a strong sticky flavour.

Plating Up!

Once you bring the chicken out of the oven, let it sit for at least 20 minutes with a lid on or some foil & a tea towel over it.

I like to serve with roasted potatoes, roughly cut with skins on. See below for my perfect ‘rough roasty’… But you can equally serve with garlic bread… See below for my recipe… Or Serve with rice or couscous.. The choice is yours - Enjoy!!

PS. I like to serve as a vegetable steamed broccoli spears, but really it is a veg of your choosing ….

‘Rough Roasty’ - Choose a good roasting potato, cut to your desired shape, don’t bother to peal the skins. Put into a saucepan covered in water & sprinkled with a good amount of salt. Bring the pan to the boil and give a minute or two longer so that a knife can easily pierce the flesh of the potato. You should already have the oven on 180 degrees / Gas 4. Pour off the water and put the hot potato’s into a roasting tin that has already seen the hot oven & is filled with a few tablespoons of fat, Rapeseed Oil or similar or see my Dripping recipe below. Sprinkle with salt and roast in the oven for 40 minutes turning half way through. De-camp the potato’s to a heat proof dish & keep warm until the chicken is out of the oven then pop back into the oven whilst the Baked Chicken rests.

• My tip. What I use as my cooking fat, is the dripping off a previously roasted chicken. Dripping, fat that has melted and dripped from roasting meat, used in cooking. My father used to put it on bread & eat it in copious amounts. He & his mother were labouring under the delusion that a good fat ball around the heart was healthy. Thankfully medical treatments have moved on since this old wives tale, as he had to have a triple by-pass! Anyway used to roast the potatoes adds so much wonderful flavour.

• My tip. The fat will raise to the top of the Dripping as it cools in the fridge. Once you have scrapped off the fat & used it to cook your perfect potatoes, you can use the solidified juices that lay underneath the fat to flavour the most amazing gravies or use in a hearty meal such as Cottage Pie, Chicken & Mushroom Pie, the added flavour is amazing.

Garlic Bread - The Baked Chicken has quite a lot of garlic in it, but my lot like a bit of garlic bread. I don’t like to make this garlic bread to strong so, simply cut the bread, French Bread or even Granary then cut a clove of garlic & gently rub the cut side of the garlic over the bread, don’t be too forceful you just want a hit of the garlic for this recipe. Grill until light golden brown…