chicken tray bake

This is yet another delve into Jamie Oliver’s latest book, Jamie’s America. I’d bought a whole chicken at the weekend to wanted to portion it up for use throughout the week. Here the wings and one breast went into a soupy, veggie oven-baked dish, browning off while leaking their savoury juices into the broth. I made a few of my own tweaks, leaving out sweet potatoes (not a favourite of mine since the rancid ‘Barefoot Contessa’ destroyed it in a recipe of hers I recreated) and substituting carrots. Otherwise it’s essentially sliced carrots and sliced potatoes baked in chicken stock with some oregano for half an hour, then chicken pieces added on top for another half hour. The other great touch here was brining the chicken; something I’ve always contemplated but never tried. The meat was left for three hours in a mixture of water, salt, garlic, honey and sage. It left the meat tasty and juicy and something I will definitely return to. I know for example Heston Blumenthal’s perfect roast chicken requires a few days’ brining… watch this space.

The whole dish was very tasty though next time I think I’d add an acidic twist with perhaps a splash of white wine.