Garlicky Chicken

Tis' definitely the season to celebrate with good food, wine and your loved ones.  In my opinion, this chicken recipe is good enough to land itself a spot on that dining table this festive period. Don't get me wrong, this is not a Christmas recipe but a simple heartwarming dish by Nigella Lawson that will win the crowd over. The recipe calls for white wine or vermouth but I made do with my leftover Rose and it tasted just as good anyway.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 pieces                             chicken leg or thigh, bone in
20 cloves                           garlic, unpeeled
1 tablespoon                      olive oil
5 stalks                              thyme (I replaced it with 1/2 tablespoon of the dried version)
3 stalks                              scallion, chopped
2 tablespoon                      white wine or vermouth
                                          salt and black pepper to season

Method:

Heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

In a dutch iron pot, heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sear the chicken leg on high heat, browning them. Remove and set aside.

Add in the chopped scallion, thyme and give it a good stir for about 20 seconds or so.

Place in 10 cloves of garlic, followed by the browned chicken pieces. Top with the other 10 cloves of garlic. Season with salt and black pepper.

Add in 2 tablespoons of wine (or more like I did) and swirl them around the pot.

Cover the pot and place in the oven for an hour.

Serve the dish and its gorgeous sauce with some nicely toasted sourdough or baguette. Do not forget the nicely caramelized garlic too.

Spanish Orange Chicken

This is one of the first few recipes that I have tried from Nigella Lawson.  A one-pan dish that is easy and mess-free, you'll be surprised on how little ingredients were used for this dish. Aromatic and flavoursome, this is a definite must-try given how simple this is. Her recipe serves 6 but I've tweaked it down to 2 instead. How often do we have 6 people in the house anyway? I've also cut down on the steps a little so that it's a lot easier to make. Remember though, to preheat your oven while you prepare the ingredients. Halo Espanol!

Serves 2
Ingredients:

2                            chicken leg (bone-in)
1 tablespoon          olive oil
11/2                       chorizo sausages, cut into 1 inch thick
6                            baby potatoes, halved (or 2 normal sized potatoes, quartered)
1 mediu                  red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon             dried oregano
1/2                         orange, zest grated

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius. Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil onto a roasting pan and rub the chicken leg in the oil, then turn them skin side up.

Scatter the chorizo and potatoes in the pan evenly. Sprinkle the chopped onions and oregano and grate the orange zest over the dish.

Cook in the oven for 1 hour, basting the chicken with the juices during the cooking process.

Nigella's Roasted Seafood

All thanks to Nigella's Kitchen (one of my favourite cookbook), a chockfull of seafood goodness can now be yours. Easily. All you need is a little time, no fuss and no mess. The best part of the recipe: It uses up my leftover onions, potatoes and lemons.

Ingredients:

4            jumbo prawns
1            squid, sliced
200g      clams, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes
2            potatoes, cut into 8 pieces with skin intact
1            onion, cut into 8 pieces
1            lemon, cut into 8 pieces
8            garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/4 cup  white wine
1 tbsp     parsley, chopped
              salt and pepper
1/4 cup  extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Place the chopped onion, lemon, garlic cloves and potatoes in a roasting pan. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and roast in oven for 60 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and add in the clams, prawns and squid. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of white wine and season with salt and pepper. Return pan to oven and roast for another 15 minutes. When ready, sprinkle the chopped parsley and serve in the pan. Easy, isn't it?