There can be no better comment to hear from your Pregnant and Hungry wife as;
"This is exactly what I wanted to eat when I bought these ingredients, this is Perfect."
We have both had a very busy month with work, bathroom renovations, nursery renovations (completed by myself with a superb cameo from my Father-In-Law and we are still talking to each other), adventures, parties, engagement drinks, Chinese New Year suppers and everything else in between.
So much so, that it’s been almost been 3 weeks since I last wrote a recipe, blog or even gave thought to my little cottage industry of recipe writing so I thought I would ease back into the groove with a Chicken Tray Roast classic you can see at the top.
I usually buy my thighs with skin-on and bone-on, I remove the bone myself and use it for a stock base in the week (or freeze it) but this was all we could find and TBH was in no mood for arsing around in the supermarket. She was task orientated and not going home empty handed.
It seems meal times is when the little loaf is most active at the moment and whether this is approval of my cooking or a simple reaction to feeling slightly more cramped from TBH’s full stomach. I’m not only enjoying the direct reaction but the sense of nourishment feels incredibly satisfying as I can feel, in some small way, a part of this little loaf’s growth and development whilst TBH is doing all the real hard work and from my perspective she's doing a great job of it.
Chargrilled Thighs, Roast New Potatoes & Broccoli
Serves 3
6 Thighs – skinless, boneless
350g New Potatoes – skin on, cut in half
1 Large Pack of Tenderstem broccoli
Big handful of Thyme
2 Cloves of Garlic – minced
1 Lemon
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Pre Heat the oven to 200°c
If the thighs are a little uneven in thickness, I butterfly them out so they all cook evenly but this will not be a big problem if not done as you will finish the chicken in the oven.
Rub the Chicken with minced garlic, olive oil and salt. Reserve in the fridge until later.
Boil water for the spuds, the water should be well salted and put half the bunch of thyme to the water, this will flavour them from the inside out.
Once to the boil add the potatoes and cook for 7 minutes
Allow the potatoes to steam dry for 5 mins.
Whilst the potatoes steam dry heat 2 tbsp Olive Oil in an oven tray, so when you add the dry spuds you should hear a sizzle. Season the potatoes in the roasting pan before putting in the oven.
Roast the spuds for 15 mins
Heat your chargrill pan to smoking point, this gives colour, flavour and helps the chicken cook quickly.
Cook your thighs in batches to stop overcrowding in the pan, once you have the desired ‘bar marks’ on each side, leave on a plate whilst cooking the remaining thighs. NB./ They may still be pink at this point but do not worry, the oven will finish the cooking.
This may set off your smoke alarm in the house, so close the kitchen door.
Add the broccoli (no need to pre-cook) to the roasting dish & shake to cover with seasoning and oil, scatter the rest of the thyme on top.
Place the Chargrilled Chicken on top of the Broccoli and Potatoes, and cook in the oven for a further 10 minutes or until everything is well browned.
Finish the dish with a grating of lemon zest, some more black pepper and mix thoroughly to ensure all the flavours are combined.
A couple of things to know;
If you don’t have a grill pan, a hot frying pan works well
If you used Bone-In Thighs, add on another 10-15 mins cooking.
If you buy Skin on Thighs – you’ll get a tonne of flavour but you may want to use a little less oil for the potatoes as the fat from the chicken skin will add seasoning and oil.
Roast broccoli tastes like the Fried Seaweed you can find in Chinese Restaurants, once eaten like this you never want it any other way. Just sayin’…
All the best
Goose