Sunday, February 26, 2012

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoeskj          mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

I love recipes that you can just throw together and leave alone while it cooks and the results would be the same compared to a recipe that’s more hands-on or needs time to marinate.  This is an example of one of those recipes.  It’s incredibly simple, and the flavors work great together, well, for the most part.  The only thing I will say for this recipe is that the orange flavor didn’t come through as much as I thought it would-it was muted.  In the future I think I will add orange slices to see if more of the flavour comes through.  I first made this recipe for Valentines Day but was not impressed with the results-I thought it the chicken was too oily.  To counter that, I added a breaded crust and it seemed to work perfectly with the dish. There was a limited amount of clean up to do, so this recipe brings major bonus points in my books.  Other than that, I really have no complaints.  I love chicken, so this recipe was a no-brainer.  Give it a try, it's worth a shot!

You can serve this with a light salad and not have to worry about making a starch-it’s already cooking! I made a Greek salad with it yesterday and thought that it paired nicely.  A green salad or steamed veggies would work too, whatever you prefer!!

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes

INGREDIENTS

For the crust

3 pieces of bread, toasted

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon rosemary

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon sage

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

3 tablespoons regular olive oil

12 chicken thighs (bone in, with skin)

500 grams chorizo sausages, cut into 4 cm chunks

1 kilogram red & yellow baby potatoes, half the larger ones

1/2 red onions, peeled and chopped

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Grated zest of one orange

Parsley, finely chopped (for garnish, optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and place 2 wire racks on the upper and lower thirds. On 2 baking sheets, place 1 ½ tablespoons in the pan and rub until well coated.

Toast the bread and use a food processor to grind finely. Add in the herbs and spices and combine well. Place in a shallow dish.

Rub the skin of the chicken in the oil, season with salt accordingly, then dip in crumb mixture. Place 6 chicken thighs skin up on each baking pan. Divide the chorizo sausages and the baby potatoes between the two pans.

Sprinkle the onion, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper over the pans. Grate the orange and spread the zest over the arranged contents of the two pans. Cook for 30 minutes, then move the top tray with the bottom tray in the oven. Continue cooking for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is done. Cool for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Source: adapted from Life is Great, originally from Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home by Nigella Lawson