Chicken & Jerusalem Artichoke Tray Bake.

This is an adaptation (to the point of being a mere semblance) of a recipe I originally read in the Good Food magazine but which I found to be very fiddly. As a result I forgot a couple of the ingredients, had to swap a few and added a few. I ended up with this, which is one of the nicest chicken dishes I've cooked in a long time.

This dish makes a great economical Sunday Lunch dish for a large crowd.

For this you will need:

8 skin on chicken thighs

Jerusalem Artichokes (Peeled and chopped length ways into wedges)
Either, a celeriac, kohlrabi or turnip (Peeled and chopped into chunks)
Small butternut squash (peeled and chopped into chunks)
I globe of Garlic (peeled and left in whole cloves)
half a fresh red chilli (finely chopped)
2 small Lemons
Pink peppercorns
Dried or fresh thyme
Olive oil for splashing over it. 

Chef's album Choice:

Chilled out Sundays are made of this dish. It's all a little peel, chop and slap into a metal baking tray, so you can go for something a little more up tempo. I've gone for an old school classic, Macy Gray's 'On how to live'. It's a great retro trip down memory lane and sums up those happy Sundays of student life before the children, the work uniform wash and all the other Sunday responsibilities that clock up. I defy you not to be using your wooden spoon as a microphone. 

Houzz.com  3 for $80.00 although
similar can be found at good car
boot sale & e-bay for a fraction
of the cost. 

Setting & Props: This is a great Sunday lunch dish for family and friends, so it deserves a bit of Sunday love. Keep the look informal but cared for. A printed indian throw would make a nice table cloth, wine glasses and a caraf as well as a lovely chunky earthern ware bowl to serve the main event in would all add to that sense of relaxed occasion. It definitely deserves a small bunch of spring flowers and proper cotton napkins. 




METHOD: 

1. Marinate the chicken thighs in a combination of lemon juice, lemon rind, garlic, thyme. Preferably for 2+hrs but if you're reading this as you go along with your guests arriving in the next hour, then just make sure you massage your chicken well with all the ingredients for a good couple of minutes. 
2. Place the artichokes into boiling water, blanch for 5 minutes, drain, squirt lemon juice over them (they are prone to discolouring) and let them cool. 
3. Place your marinated chicken thighs SKIN SIDE DOWN onto a large metal baking tray. Surround them with the cubed butternut squash, the Jerusalem artichokes, and the white veg (either the turnip, celeriac or kohlrabi) and the garlic cloves. Give it a poke about. 
4. Generously glug over the olive oil and a sprinkling of crushed pink pepper corns. 
5. Cook on a 180 oven for around 40 minutes. If the chicken is looking a little pale, turn it over, whack up the heat to 250 for 5 minutes but be careful not to scorch your pointy little artichokes. 
6. Poor the whole mixture into a warmed earthenware serving platter and take to the table. 

SIDES: Quarters of pointed cabbage or a bowl of cabbage both slathered in butter and a sprinkling of white pepper and boiled potatoes with a sprinkling of fresh parsley. 

WINE: This is  robust, earthy dish and yet strangely delicate and fragrant. A very chilled white Chablis goes very well. 

Total Cost: approx. £2.60 a head + wine