I found a Waitrose roast chicken thighs & potatoes recipe online which suited the ingredients I’d got to hand. It wasn’t a bad meal considering the minimal amount of effort and lack of planning. The thighs turned out well with lovely crispy skin – before putting in the tray I sprinkled the skin with salt and leaving to draw the moisture out, then dried with kitchen roll. I did find it necessary to take the thighs out and then return the potatoes to the oven to brown. The potatoes are a little bit dry too so might be nice to serve with something to counter this such as gravy.

6 March 2013

I watched an episode of Perfect (Roast) in which Mark Sargeant made a similar dish but he cooked his potatoes beforehand.

What I did

Preheat oven to 175C.
Peel 2 very large Maris Pipers. Cut into roastie size chunks. Parboil in UNsalted water for 5 mins. Drain and allow all steam to escape.

Tenderise the 4 large chicken thighs a la Jamie i.e. put them between greaseproof and smack with a rolling pin, then spread a mix of 1 tsp fennel (ground), 1 deseeded chopped fresh red chilli, salt and minced garlic under the skin. Then salt the skin to draw moisture out – leave for about 5 mins – and dab dry with kitchen roll.

Cube half a peeled celariac. Toss that and the potatoes in olive oil, garlic salt and a little powdered chilli. Arrange in large baking tray lined with parchment along with thighs. Put lemon segments from 1 large lemon in as well. Give the potatoes and celariac an extra dab of oil with a brush then bake for 40 mins.

Switch to grill to crisp up chicken skin and brown the celariac and potatoes.

Serve with green veg.

Verdict

The chicken was overcooked though the skin got nice and crispy under the grill. The potatoes were better than last time for being parboiled and the celariac was underdone. Nothing was inedible but overall it was a disappointment.

What I should have done was take the chicken out when it got to 60C (this would have been after 20 -25 mins) and let it rest until the rest of the meal was ready; it wouldn’t have done it any harm.

I think this is the problem with one tray bakes: you can’t get everything done as well as doing it all separately. Next time I will cook the chicken in the small oven at 175C with the flavourings and lemon segments until they get to 60C, and rest under loose kitchen roll and foil. I will make wedges and roast celeriac in the large oven at 175C + fan. Finally I will grill the chicken skin only to crisp it up.