If you’ve ever been to Cape Town during the winter, you would be familiar with the wet and rainy days that follow one another…sometimes for weeks on end. During the winter months, I find myself eating a lot more than usual and tend to spend more time in the kitchen building on old favourites and razzing them up a little. I must say, I’ve come to love using new flavours that I find in our local food magazines (all praise TASTE magazine !) and on international food science sites. My degree has allowed me to really explore the multi-faceted food production world. We learn about food chemistry, processing, quality assurance and food safety as well as our local SA food regulations (mind blowing!!). I love my course and can highly recommend it to any aspiring foodie. Okay…back to the chicken…

This recipe is a take on the traditional oven roasted chicken and rice hotpot. I’ve chosen to feature it as my first blog post as I feel this dish is really understated. I want to share recipes with my readers that are fool-proof, really yummy and can be replicated quickly and on a budget. Served with crunchy broccolini stems and buttery cous cous, this meal makes great healthy dinner! I wouldn’t suggest using chicken breasts or fillets for this recipe, as these cuts tend to dry out quickly. Make sure to get a hearty helping of the chickeny juices, as these are just delish when soaked up in the cous cous. This dish can be eaten on the same day but also makes for killer left overs.

You’ll need

12 raw chicken pieces (on-the-bone, drumsticks and thighs)

1 tbsp paprika

2 tsp dried thyme

1 large onion, finely chopped

300g brown mushrooms

3 fresh garlic cloves, crushed

30g butter

800ml chicken stock

125ml dry white wine

15ml soy sauce

10ml fresh lemon juice

3 large carrots, cut into batons

2 fresh whole tomatoes, puréed

Chopped parsley

Olive oil for frying

Black pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.
2. Coat chicken pieces in paprika and brown in a little olive oil in a pan. Arrange chicken (presentation side down) in an oven dish with carrots and set aside.
3. Heat butter with a splash of olive oil in a clean frying pan. Add onions, mushrooms, thyme and garlic to pan. Stirring frequently, cook until mushrooms are tender and onions are translucent and glossy (not browned). If you feel the pan is becoming too dry, an extra drizzle of olive oil won’t cause any harm. Remove from the heat and add to chicken pieces.
4. Mix together the tomatoes, stock, soy sauce and lemon juice. Pour over chicken and onion mixture and season with black pepper.
5. Bake uncovered for 1 h. After 30 min, remove from oven and turn chicken pieces (presentation side up). Return to brown in the oven for the remaining 30 min. Remove and top with a generous amount of chopped fresh parsley.
6. Serve with heaps of buttery cous cous and steamed broccolini stems (or any other green veggies).

Serves 6

If you try my Rainy Day Chicken at home, don’t forget to comment, snap and share with #galoobrious

Xo

Emma