Roast Chicken Thighs with Chilli Sauce

Roast chicken thighs served on a bed of spicy spinach sauce

It is probably more commonly lunch which is comprised of fridge leftovers but this dinner recipe was devised using principal ingredients which all constituted leftover but uncooked items in my fridge. It's amazing what you can often come up with using such items if you just put a little bit of thought and imagination in to it.

Prep time: 25 minutes (includes oven heating time and chicken resting time)
Cook time: 40 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour 5 minutes
Serves: 1

Ingredients

2 medium to large chicken thighs (skin on)
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil
3/4 medium red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon hot chilli powder
3 plum tomatoes in tomato juice (1/2 of a 14 ounce can)
2 generous handfuls baby spinach leaves
1 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander leaf/cilantro

Oven ready chicken thighs

Instructions

Put your oven on to preheat to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6.

Season the chicken thighs on the underside with salt and pepper and lay them skin sides up in a suitable casserole dish. Season the skin liberally with salt only. This well help it crisp up and colour during cooking. When the oven is heated, place the dish (without the lid!) in to the oven for 35/40 minutes.

Onion, garlic and chilli powder ready for sauteing

Pour 2 or 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in to a large saucepan. Slice the onion, peel and finely slice the garlic cloves and add them to the pan with the chilli powder. Put the pan on to a medium heat and saute for a few minutes until the onion is just softened.

Plum tomatoes are added to spiced onions

Pour the tomatoes in to the softened spiced onions and season with salt and pepper. Stir well with a wooden spoon, using the spoon to break up the tomatoes as much as you can. Bring to a simmer for an initial 10 minutes.

Spinach is added to spicy tomato sauce

Wash the spinach leaves under running cold water and shake dry. Add them to the spicy sauce and carefully stir/fold them through. They will quickly wilt and combine with the sauce. Cover and continue to simmer gently while the chicken thighs complete cooking, stirring occasionally.

Coriander is added to spinach sauce

Just before the chicken thighs are due to come out of the oven, stir the coriander leaf in to the sauce, simmer for another couple of minutes only, then remove from the heat and set aside, still covered, to cool slightly and for the flavours of the herb to infuse in to the sauce.

Roast chicken thighs

Take the chicken thighs from the oven and pierce with a fork to ensure the juices run clear. If not, cook for 5 more minutes and test again. If they are ready, cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Spicy spinach sauce bed for chicken thighs

Spoon the sauce in to the middle of a deep serving plate and spread it out to form a bed for the rested chicken thighs.

Spicy Cheese Melt Baked Chicken Thighs

Spicy cheese topped baked chicken thighs with minted potatoes and peas

Chicken thighs, when cooked properly, are by far the most succulent part of the bird. One way of cooking them to all but ensure they are served at their juicy and tender best is to bake them in the oven (as opposed to roasting them) on the bone and in a casserole dish. The dish traps the moisture and thus to a certain extent the flavour, leaving the rested thighs moist, soft and delicious. This recipe cooks the chicken thighs in just this way before adding that little bit extra something in the form of a spicy cheese melt on top of the rested meat.

Ingredients (Serves 1)

2 medium chicken thighs (bone in)
Drizzle of vegetable oil
Hot chilli powder (be careful with amount used)
Salt and pepper
6 to 8 baby new potatoes (or as required)
2 ounces Cheddar or similar hard cheese
1/4 small red onion
1 red chilli
Bit of butter
1/2 teaspoon dried mint
3 tablespoons frozen peas
Malt vinegar (optional)

Seasoned chicken thighs are ready for baking

Directions

If the chicken thighs have been in the fridge, make sure you remove them around half an hour prior to starting cooking to let them come up to room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.

Drizzle a little oil in to a casserole dish large enough to comfortably contain both chicken thighs and wipe it over the base with a piece of kitchen paper. This is just to minimise the risk of the thighs sticking. Peel the skin from the thighs and discard. Season the thighs all over with some salt, pepper and the chilli powder before laying them fleshiest sides up in the casserole dish. Put the lid on to the dish and place it in to your oven for thirty to thirty-five minutes, depending upon the size of the thighs.

When the thighs have been in the oven for about fifteen minutes, wash the potatoes and if they are a little on the large side, cut them in half. Put them in to a pot of cold, salted water and bring to a simmer for about twenty minutes or until just softened all the way through.

Baked chicken thighs

Take the casserole dish from the oven at the end of the allotted cooking time, sit it on a heatproof surface and carefully remove the lid. Use a skewer to pierce the thickest part of each thigh and ensure the juices run clear, with no trace of red or pink remaining. If necessary, cook for five more minutes and test again. Put the lid back in place and set aside for ten minutes to rest.

Spicy cheese topping ingredients

Coarsely grate/shred the cheese in to a deep plate or small bowl. Finely dice the peeled red onion quarter and add it to the cheese along with the topped, seeded (seeds are not nice in the topping) and finely diced chilli. Season with some black pepper and still well to combine. Put your kitchen grill/broiler on to preheat to its highest setting.

Buttered and minted potatoes

Drain the potatoes through a colander at your sink and allow them to steam off for a couple of minutes to dry out. Add the butter and dried mint. Carefully swirl the pot to evenly coat.

Spicy cheese is scattered over baked and rested thighs

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the frozen peas to simmer for three minutes.

Remove the lid once again from the casserole and carefully top the chicken thighs with the cheese combination. Place the dish under the hot grill for a couple of minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

Drained peas are seasoned in colander

Drain the peas through a colander and suspend the colander back over the pot before seasoning the peas with salt, black pepper and - if desired - malt vinegar. Gently shake the colander to evenly distribute the seasonings.

Lift the chicken thighs to a serving plate with a slotted spoon. Arrange the potatoes and peas alongside.

Cutting in to spicy cheese topped chicken thigh

Chicken Thighs and Root Vegetables Stew

Whole chicken thighs stewed with an assortment of root vegetables

Tender, juicy, succulent and tasty are just of few of the adjectives which can very effectively be applied to chicken thighs cooked in this way. The meat literally falls off the bones providing a wonderful all round eating experience. It was while I was updating my chicken thighs recipes page online that I decided to share one of my prepared dishes on this blog. I hope you try it out and enjoy it as much as I did.

Root vegetables for chicken thigh stew

Ingredients for One Generous Portion

3 whole chicken thighs, skin on
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons rapeseed or sunflower oil
1 and 1/2 pints fresh chicken stock
1 medium carrot
1 medium parsnip
6 baby potatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Chicken thighs are firstly browned on their skin sides

Directions

Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Pour the oil in to a large stew pot and bring up to a fairly high heat. Lay the chicken thighs in the pot skin sides down and cook for a couple of minutes.

Sealing chicken thighs on their flesh sides

Reduce the heat to low to medium and turn the chicken thighs on to their flesh sides to cook for one minute.

Chicken stock is added to sealed chicken thighs

Pour the chicken stock in to the pot and bring to a simmer.

Vegetables and seasonings are added to chicken thighs and stock

Scrub all the vegetables clean but do not peel. Top and tail the parsnip and carrot before chopping in to large chunks. Cut the potatoes in half across the way. Add to the pot, bring the stock back to a simmer, cover and continue to simmer for forty-five minutes.

Stewed chicken thighs

Use a large slotted spoon to carefully remove the chicken thighs only from the pot and arrange on a plate. Turn off the heat, re-cover the pot and leave the chicken thighs for five minutes to rest.

Skin peels easily from stewed chicken thighs

Use the same slotted spoon to plate the veg and pour a little of the stock over the top.

Tender meat flakes in large pieces from stewed chicken thighs

You will find the meat will fall from the chicken thighs almost at a touch, leaving the bones clean behind.

Chicken thigh bones are left clear of tender meat

World Cup Food Recipes - Ivory Coast

Braised chicken thighs in lemon and ginger sauce

The Ivory Coast began their World Cup campaign with a satisfying win over Japan but subsequent defeat to Colombia has left them in a precarious position going in to today's final match against Greece. Although avoiding defeat should be enough to see them through the group stages, a draw would not be sufficient in the unlikely event that Japan should defeat Colombia by a couple of goals. A win remains essential therefore for the African side if they are definitely to book their passage in to the next round.

Ivorian Coast Lemon and Ginger Chicken

While the culture and of course the food of the Ivory Coast remains very much influenced  by the French, this simple dish is hopefully a bit more in keeping with the expected rustic nature of the national cuisine. While it may not perhaps be the most attractive meal ever laid on a plate, it's incredibly tasty and sees the chicken served tender, juicy and succulent.

Chicken thigh marinading ingredients

Ingredients (Serves One)

2 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
1/2 medium white onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and grated
Juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 pint fresh chicken stock
1 teaspoon medium strength chilli powder
Salt and black pepper
Vegetable oil for frying
3 ounces basmati or long grain rice

Chicken marinading ingredients are prepared and adding to plastic dish

Directions

Add all the marinade ingredients to a suitable dish and stir well with a wooden spoon.

Chicken stock is stirred through other marinade ingredients

Lay the chicken thighs in the marinade and turn them over a few times to ensure they are evenly coated in the mixture. Cover the dish and leave to marinate for at least two hours.

Chicken thighs are added to marinade

Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in a deep, non-stick frying pan. Add the chicken thighs and fry all over until sealed and browned.

Chicken thighs are fried and sealed in oil

Pour the marinade in to the pan and bring to a simmer. Ensure the skin sides of the chicken thighs are uppermost, cover the pan and simmer as gently as possible for half an hour.

Chicken thighs are braised in marinating juices

Wash the rice thoroughly through a sieve under running cold water. Add to a deep pot of boiling, salted water and simmer for ten minutes.

Rice is carefully washed before it is cooked

Drain the rice and lay it in a plate in the form of a bed for the chicken.

Chicken thighs are lifted on to bed of rice

Lift the chicken thighs with a slotted spoon or cooking tongs on to the bed of rice. Spoon over some of the sauce and enjoy.

Tucking in to tender and succulent lemon and ginger chicken thighs

World Cup Food Recipes - South Korea

South Korean fried chicken thighs in spicy sauce

South Korea kicked off their World Cup Finals campaign on Tuesday with a 1-1 draw against Russia. With matches still to come firstly against Algeria and subsequently against Group H favourites Belgium, their World Cup future remains very much in the balance. Today I look at South Korean food and provide the recipe for a tasty dish which is perfect for preparing and enjoying while watching the World Cup. This was last night's dinner for me but I ran out of time last night to get the details published.

South Korean Fried Chicken Thighs Recipe

Korean Fried Chicken probably isn't the first thing people think of when they think KFC. This almost authentic recipe will hopefully give you an alternative chicken meal suggestion when you hear or see this acronym in future. I have made two significant changes to the majority of recipes I have seen around the Web. The first is that I have used chicken thighs (my favourite part of a chicken) instead of wings. Chicken wings recipes are generally very easily adapted to chicken thighs recipes or even chicken drumstick recipes, so this is a great way of adding variety to any relevant dish. The second change was sort of forced upon me in that the authentic recipe calls for the use of Korean chilli paste and I couldn't get it. I instead used tomato ketchup and chilli powder with what I at least believe to be very good results.

South Korean spicy sauce ingredients

Ingredients

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon medium strength chilli powder
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 inch piece ginger root, peeled
4 chicken thighs, skinned
3 tablespoons plain/all purpose flour
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons self-raising/rising flour
4 teaspoons cornflour/corn starch
Freshly chopped parsley to garnish

Ingredients ready for blitzing to make South Korean spicy sauce

Directions

Put all the sauce ingredients in to a food processor or blender and blitz until smooth. Pour in to a bowl, cover with clingfilm and set aside.

South Korean spicy chicken sauce

Make sure you take the chicken thighs from the fridge an hour in advance of cooking to let them reach room temperature. If they have not already been skinned, you will find the skin should very easily peel off in one piece.

Peeling skin from chicken thighs

Put the self-raising/rising flour and the cornflour/corn starch in to a large bowl. Season with salt and slowly begin adding cold water, whisking with a fork until a batter the consistency of thick cream is formed. Put the bowl in the fridge for fifteen minutes to let the batter rest.

Mixing batter for chicken thighs

Bring a deep fryer or deep frying pan of oil up to a medium to high heat. Add the plain/all purpose flour to a plastic bag and season well with salt and pepper. Add the chicken thighs and twist the bag closed, trapping as much air in it as possible. Very gently shake/invert the bag to cover all the thighs evenly in flour. This will help the batter stick.

Chicken thighs are floured and battered for deep frying

The chicken thighs are going to be fried twice. When frying them the first time, I fried them two at a time.

Take one thigh at a time from the flour bag and dip in the batter making sure it is evenly coated. Let any excess briefly drip off back in to the bowl and lay carefully in the hot oil. Fry for three minutes each side until the batter is just starting to turn golden. Drain on kitchen paper and leave to cool for five minutes.

Starting to deep fry battered chicken thighs

The oil should be a bit hotter for the second frying of the chicken thighs. Again, they are fried for three minutes on each side, by which time the batter should be an attractive dark golden colour and deliciously crisp.

Battered chicken thighs are deep fried for a second time

Drain the chicken thighs on kitchen paper for a second time and pour the spicy sauce in to a large bowl.

Deep fried chicken thighs and spicy South Korean sauce

Put the chicken thighs in to the bowl with the sauce. Carefully turn them around in the sauce with a large spoon until they are all evenly coated.

Battered chicken thighs are added to spicy South Korean sauce

The chicken thighs can then be plated and garnished with the fresh parsley.

Spicy Korean fried chicken

Serve the chicken thighs and eat with your fingers, just as you would wings.

Tucking in to Korean fried chicken