A Chicken Thigh Traybake

Unlike G I like to have a lot of vegetables in my meals.  We have had quite a lot of scratch meals this week mostly down to the fact that I have been dealing with other things in the household and not getting very far; however I continue to work on these in the background for now.

There is an offer on at Morrisons Late Stop which is the shop around the corner for me for three packs of Chicken thighs for the sum of £10.  You get about 8 to 10 per tray.  It is a good way of eating chicken without necessarily the price tag of Chicken breasts.  Now I do prefer my chicken breasts, but so much can be made of the Chicken thighs for everyday eating.  G does not like the legs so much, which I do eat but to keep the peace and make sure that he eats his food, especially after the effort made to cook. it is perhaps the simplest way to forestall a potential problem.

Now I like to play with my food, trying different things out with different ingredients. I also like a tray bake meal, it is quick and simple. Yesterday though this is what happened.

I greased a roasting pan with a little oil, enough to allow the food not to stick to the pan.  I then added in four Chicken thighs and spaced them in the pan.  I then chopped a yellow and green sweet pepper into strips and then into halves of the strips.  These are added to the pan.  I then chopped a whole large onion and cut it into slices and also added to the pan.  I then added about 5 Garlic cloves peeled and chopped in half.   I then added in blanched baby potatoes.  Everything was then popped into the oven Gas Mark 6, near the top of the oven.  I then regularly check how the veggies and the Chicken are cooking and also turn the pan around at intervals to allow the even cooking of the ingredients in the pan.

When I pop things like small baby potatoes into a tray bake to "roast", sometimes  they take an absolute age to cook and do not caramelise as much as I would like them too.  This may be down to my oven but please work with your oven as to how it operates with you.  Some ovens have a habit of running a bit hotter than others.   There main reason for this is a simple one, which is due mostly to too  much moisture or fat from other items. 

After getting the Chicken and initial veggies starting to cook well, I then add the veggies that take a lesser time to cook i.e. veggies like Broccoli and French Beans end up either getting slightly blackened and often take a lot longer to cook.  Of late therefore I have taken to blanching both the baby potatoes before adding to the roasting tray.  If the baby potatoes are bigger then I do tend to halve them.  Equally if they are too small to peel I just make sure that they are scrubbed well, leave the peel on and blanch yet again.  They are then added to the pan to roast.  

The French Beans and the Broccoli I do not like Crispy or hard and so I have taken to blanching them also, draining them well and then adding to the rest of the ingredients.  

In the event of the potatoes not crisping up with the veggies I am cooking them with, I will scoop them out and put into another tray and then crisp them off, which is how I like them.  I have found with the blanching to start with it makes the potatoes lovely and fluffy on the inside. Not quite a one pan meal strictly but the taste and flavour of the food is more important to me than anything else and if this is what it takes, that is what it is.  Sometimes they crisp up beautifully in the pan on their own.

You can also vary the vegetables up to suit the season.  Parsnip, Pumpkin and Sweet Potatoes as well as ordinary Main Crop potatoes also do very nicely to make a healthier main meal of the day.

Tea last night was absolutely delicious and was just what I was looking for.  I still have two packs of Chicken thighs to use up in the next few days.  However in the longer term it worked out a lot cheaper to buy the three packs of the Chicken thighs than to just buy a packet in.  The Chicken thighs are for the time being in the fridge and I will squeeze them into the freezer where I can.

In the position where I can not get the Chicken thighs into the freezer we will have Chicken meals for a few days.

Now I just need ideas as to what to do with the Chicken.  Here are some of the things I am contemplating.

There is a lot that can be done, such as a Chicken stew, fried Chicken and homemade chips, a main meal with just roasted thighs and served with fresh veggies, Roasties and mashed potato with gravy.  Homemade Chicken and vegetable soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken stock for the Pantry shelf which has been heat processed a homemade traditional English style Curry, Potted Chicken for sarnies or served with a simple salad. There is also the option of homemade Chicken pie or smaller pies utilising the Chicken thighs which have been cooked, allowed to cool and then had the meat stripped off then turned into pies.  A little pastry and a few veggies can make meat  stretch out a little further.  Therefore will see what I can come up with in the next few days for further meals.  

Hope everyone is keeping well.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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