Chicken with chorizo, potatoes, chickpeas and lemons

Tags

Chicken, chickpeas, chorizo, lemons, potatoes, spanish, stew

The smell when this simple, one dish meal is cooking, is simply fabulous. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare and then you sit back and enjoy a glass of white wine and wait for the oven to do its job. Make sure to have lots of fresh baguette on hand to mop up all that superb juice at the bottom of the dish.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lemon, quartered (preferably organic)
6 to 8 pieces thighs and drumsticks
1 tablespoon paprika (sweet)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
200g / 8oz strong chorizo, cut into small chunks
12 cloves of garlic, peeled
400ml / 1 3/4 cup hot chicken stock
2 pinches saffron
1 tin chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
Parsley, fresh, roughly chopped
1 cup Greek yoghurt

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F
Mix the paprika, the salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon olive oil together and massage into into the chicken pieces
Place the chicken in a roasting dish
In a medium bowl, mix the potatoes with the chorizo and the rest of the olive oil
Scatter around the chicken
Cover with a lid or aluminum foil
Place in the oven for 30 minutes
Remove the lid or foil, stir all, add the lemon quarters, garlic, hot stock, saffron and the chickpeas and return to oven for another 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked
Sprinkle with parsley
Meanwhile mix the yoghurt with a pinch of paprika and a pinch of saffron and stir well – serve alongside the chicken with lots of crusty baguette
Enjoy!

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Spicy yoghurt chicken

Tags

cape malay, Chicken, rainbow nation, South Africa, spicy, yoghurt

This is a Cape Malay classic recipe that is so easy and yet so flavourful. The smell of the spices cooking will have everyone waiting around the table for the meal to be ready. If you do not have Greek yoghurt, regular plain yoghurt will do but the sauce will be thinner. It might not be the prettiest looking dish but it is one of my favourite go to recipes.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 chicken legs (thigh and drumstick)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed (optional)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
500ml / 2 cups hot water
375 ml / 1 1/2 cups natural Greek yoghurt
Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala

Preparation:

Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan
Sauté the onion until translucent and starting to colour slightly
Add the garlic, ginger, salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes over medium low heat
Add the chicken portions and brown well
Pour in the hot water and simmer for about 45 minutes
Add the yoghurt, cilantro, turmeric and garam masala and stir well to combine all
Do not allow to boil but cook gently for 1 to 2 minutes to heat the sauce
Serve with rice or naan bread and some chutney
Enjoy!

Perfect roast chicken

Tags

Chicken, roast, roast chicken, sunday lunch

I have always maintained that if I had to pick a final meal, it would be roast chicken. I simply LOVE the smell of a chicken roasting in the oven, the taste of the warm, juicy, moist meat, crispy skin…. OOhh, I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

It is very important to start with an excellent quality, organic, free range, chicken and I am very lucky here in the Dordogne as there is no shortage of farms selling directly. This chicken comes from Volaille Dumas – Perigord Noir.

I added 2 thickly sliced potatoes, 1 sliced onion and 1 thickly sliced aubergine to the bottom of my dish and placed the chicken on top.

Serves 3 to 4

Ingredients:

1 Chicken, 2 to 3 kg (5 to 6 lbs)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, cut in half
4 to 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 onion, cut into quarters
3 tablespoons melted butter
Pinch paprika
Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
Pinch mixed herbs or herbs de Provence

Preparation:

Remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before you want to cook it, to let it come up to room temperature
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F
Remove the chicken giblets
Stuff the chicken cavity with the lemon halves, onion quarters and garlic cloves
Sprinkle with salt and pepper in the cavity
Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter
Sprinkle the paprika, cayenne pepper and herbs on the chicken
Add salt and pepper
Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken
Place the chicken in the roasting dish
About half way through the cooking time, baste the chicken with the juices
Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh
Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes
Carve and serve
Enjoy!