Roast Chicken with Mushrooms, Chicory and Dill

[purplecat]

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

[kat_lair]

Oh this sounds delicious. I must say I've never thought about dill with chicken but now I'm curious...

[purplecat]

I definitely like the overall combination here. It doesn't take too "dilly" if you see what I mean.

[antisoppist]

I've got that book but I don't like chicory or dill. Good to know it works without the chicory. I have a lot of leeks to get rid of.

[purplecat]

I can't quite recall now, but I think I upped the leeks just because, as you say, I had a lot of them.

[mama_kestrel]

If you want to make it with boneless breasts, the considerations are that breasts cook much faster than dark meat, and that boneless cooks faster still. I'd cook the vegetables for 20 minutes, then add the chicken, brush it with olive oil, and finish cooking. You might also consider covering the pan and/or reducing the oven temperature to 175 C. (350 F)

It sounds lovely. I'd give it a try, but I'm the only one (of 5) who would eat it. :( Daughter in law despises Mushrooms, son won't eat leeks, spouse-creature doesn't care for lentils and mom is lactose intolerant, which takes out the creme fraiche. Not much left after all of that!

[purplecat]

You're probably correct. I have another recipe where I use breast and for that I both add the chicken in towards the end and dice it so it cooks through quicker and has less chance to dry out.

Bad luck with the family. There's only three of us and there are days when I feel like I'm cooking three different dinners.