Chicken, chorizo, brussels sprouts and cauliflower bake

By Colin Fassnidge 

Ingredients

  • 6 small Grassland Poultry chicken thigh cutlets (about 1kg), skin on, trimmed
  • 1/2 cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp ground fennel seeds
  • 2 tbs sherry vinegar
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 300g dried chorizo, chopped
  • 1 small cauliflower (about 1kg), sliced into 4 steaks
  • 250g small Brussels sprouts, trimmed
  • 1 lemon, thinly sliced
  • 400g truss cherry tomatoes, cut into clusters
  • Mixed salad leaves, to serve

Method

  1. Place chicken, half the oil, spices, vinegar and garlic in a bowl, season and toss to coat. Leave to marinade for 20 minutes (or even overnight if time allows).
  2. Preheat oven to 220C. Place chorizo in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Set aside.
  3. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. In batches of 2, cook chicken skin-side down for 5 minutes or until well browned, then turn and cook for a further 3 minutes. Place in a large roasting tray. Place cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and lemon slices around chicken, drizzle with remaining oil and season. Roast for 30 minutes, then add tomatoes, scatter with chorizo and roast for a further 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, vegetables are tender and chorizo is golden brown. Loosely cover with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes, then serve with salad leaves.

Roasted Chicken with clementines & ouzo

From Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Ingredients

  • 100ml Ouzo
  • 4tbsp Olive Oil
  • 3 tbsp Orange Juice
  • 3 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 2 tbsp Grain Mustard
  • 3 tbsp Light brown sugar
  • 2 medium fennel bulbs
  • 1 large chicken (divided into 8 pieces)
  • 4 clementines (unpeeled, sliced horizontally into 0.5xm slices)
  • 1 tbsp of thyme leaves
  • 2 ½ tsp fennel seeds (slightly crushed)
  • Salt and Black Pepper
  • Chopped parsley to garnish

Method

Put the first 6 ingredients into a large mixing bowl and add 1 ½ and 2 1/2 teaspoons of pepper. Whisk well and set aside.

Trim the fennel and cut each bulb in half lengthways. Cut each half into 4 wedges. Add the fennel to the liquids, along with the chicken pieces, clementine slices, thyme and fennel seeds. Stir well with your hands then leave to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight (skipping the marinating stage is also fine, if you are pressed for time).

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C. Transfer the chicken and its marinade to a baking tray large enough to accommodate everything comfortably in a single layer (roughly a 30cm x 37cm tray); the chicken skin should be facing up. Once the oven is hot enough, put the tray in the oven and roast for 35-45 minutes, until the chicken is coloured and cooked through. Remove from the oven.

Lift the chicken, fennel and clementines from the tray and arrange on a serving plate; cover and keep warm. Pour the cooking liquids into a small saucepan, place on a medium-high heat, bring to a boil then simmer until the sauce is reduced by a third, so you are left with about 80ml. Pour the hot sauce over the chicken, garnish with some chopped parsley and serve.

Tip:

You can use oranges or mandarins instead of clementines and it works just as well