Roast Chicken with Mushrooms, Chicory and Dill

[purplecat]

Cross-posted to cookbook_challenge

I am slowly cooking my way through Rukmini Iyer's The Roasting Tin Around the World in part because I am fond of one pot/tin dishes. This is from the Europe and North Asia Section.


1kg chicken thighs and drumsticks
500g Chestnut Mushrooms
2 large heads of Chicory quartered
1 leek, thickly sliced
3 tbs Olive Oil
15-20g Dill
1 tsp sea salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
250g cooked vac-packed Puy Lentils
300ml Creme Fraiche
Lemon juice, to taste



1. Put mushrooms, chicory and leek into a roasting tin and mix with the oil and 3/4 dill. Layer over the chicken and then scatter with salt and pepper. Transfer to oven pre-heated to 200C (180 fan) for 50 minutes.

2. Scatter the Puy lentils and dot the creme fraiche over the vegetables and stir in, trying not to get too much on the chicken. Cook for a further 10 minutes.

3. Remove from the oven, rest for 10 minutes, then squeeze over the lemon juice and scatter with remaining dill.


Mistakes, Changes, Improvisations: Sainsbury's had no chicory and I had no will to look elsewhere. I did without, reasoning the leeks and mushrooms would suffice as vegetables. Sainsbury's also only had drumsticks, but the recipe seemed to cope. We served with roast vegetables and potatoes rather than bread as suggested in the recipe.

Verdict: The offspring doesn't like sauce so I didn't even attempt to give her any of the creme fraiche sauce, I just gave her one of the drumsticks which she ate so it was probably good. Husband complained about chicken with bones in and asked if I could make it with breast next time - I'm not sure, I suspect the bones are needed to keep the chicken moist. I really liked this.

Comments

[chainmailmaiden]

That sounds good, I'd have left the chicory out if I'd made it as I find it too bitter, I'm also with B on the bones in chicken, I prefer it without. I think if the chicken breasts still had their skin on it would help keep them moist, but I'd not put them in right at the start, as they wouldn't need cooking as long as pieces of chicken which have bones in. At that temperature they would probably take about 25 mins. The Skin might not be totally browned after that time, but they would still be moist. That's the problem you often get with chicken breast, the trade off between crispy skin or moist flesh. If you're not bothered about eating the skin it's not an issue though.

Alternatively other things to try would be making a small pocket under the skin and putting some butter under it, to help keep it moist, if you want to cook them longer, that can be especially nice if you make a garlic or herb butter. Or you could cover the breasts with foil while they cook if you wanted to leave them in for the full time. Again with that you'd not get the crispy skin, but the foil would help keep them moist.

[purplecat]

Yes, on cookbook challenge, someone suggested putting breast in later if used. You're right about the skin though - part of the effect here was definitely the crispy skin.