… sometimes I feel that the foodie community has hit a brick wall. This is totally one of those middle-class problems – a classic case of the emperors new clothes but I feel I need to speak up against what I see as an issue before our whole wonderful community throws itself unwittingly off a cliff. The thing is, just because you wrap your food-market stall in hessian and serve it on an aged wooden paddle it doesn’t give you an excuse to serve vile food… and i’m not solely blaming the market-stall holder either but the stupid wankers who shop in these awful ‘farmers markets’ should take some of the flack too… i’m sure we’ve all seen these pop-up markets take-over trendy neighbourhoods and yes, many of them add value and have a lot to offer but sometimes I get the feeling that these ‘artisan’ stall-holders are becoming as deadly to the food world as the homogenous ‘luxury’ high-street stores… if you’re everywhere then you simply aren’t luxury, you’re common…
… now that The Viking and I are spending more weekends in London i’m coming to the realisation that London is a foreign city in its own county, there’s very little British left about it and of course, i’m not talking about the historic and ongoing wealth of incredible ethnic variety which i’m proud to be included in, i’m talking about the wealthy non-Londoners who are sculpting the place into a play-town and destroying any chance we have at not becoming one giant mall…
dukkah-crusted chicken thighs
as you know i’m always on the lookout for something new and intriguing to do with my beloved chicken thighs… this week I was sent a wonderful collection of goodies from olives et al who specialise, as the name suggests, in all things olive and the kind of wonderfully tasty things you might imagine eating on a trip around the med and north africa. Their extra virgin olive oil is spectularly grassy and nutty – just the way I like it, plus it retains its taste when cooked, so you can almost treat it like a herb… their egyptian inspired dukkah is a new one for my spice cupboard but i’ve gone with the north african influence for the rest of the ingredients and the results were really rather special…
1 portion of chicken thighs and legs
4 tablespoons olives et al dukkah spice mix
2 tablespoons tapenade
1 onion – finely chopped
4 cloves garlic
a handful runner beans or flat green beans – roughly chopped
2 long sweet red peppers – halved and quartered
1 medium courgette – roughly chopped
1 medium beetroot – peeled and chopped
1 300g tin chickpeas
1 glass white wine
1/2 pint good quality veg stock
8 or 9 olives – pitted and mixed
you will need a large casserole dish with a lid
take your chicken portions and smear the skin with the tapenade then sprinkle each portion with a little of the dukkah spice mix, patting it into the tapenade
place all the veg into the casserole and lay the chicken portions on top, pop the lid on and bake in the oven on 160C for one hour, then remove the lid, turn up the oven to 180C and bake for a further 15 mins
serve over lashings of couscous or mashed sweet potato
eat and of course, enjoy!
Oh yes – I hear you and I love that: “just because you wrap your food-market stall in hessian and serve it on an aged wooden paddle it doesn't give you an excuse to serve vile food… and i'm not solely blaming the market-stall holder either but the stupid wankers who shop in these awful 'farmers markets' should take some of the flack too” Genius!
As I said this morning I didn't know whether to eat this or frame it, it looks so good! Now I've read the ingredients I definitely want to eat it – what a lush array of flavours, colours and textures – bravo Dom;-)
Well said, you've touched on two important issues.
There will always people who jump on the bandwagon of a good thing and spoil it.
And the movers and shakers have done too good a job of making our capital city the best place to be if you've got an obscene amount of wealth (mostly obtained by exploiting the rest of us).
Just the look of this dish is spectacular. I think I will try this one. I just recently( within the last 3 months) saw the dukkah spice blend at my local Trader Joe's. I picked it up then put in down because I didn't know what to do with it. Now I do! Gorgeous looking meal!
Love the addition of the dukkah spice mix. Love the simple bread oil and dukkah for dipping with pre-dinner drinks too.
this is a spice blend I keep meaning to try
Goodness me, this was a rant and a half! But I agree with everything you say – the best option is to vote with your feet and shop elsewhere! And, your thighs are gorgeous specimens, as always x
great recipe!:D
http://duecuoriinpadella.blogspot.it/
SO well said Dom! I am always ranting to Malcolm about “style over substance” and have also used the Emperors' New Clothes as an example too, so well bloody said!
But onto your thighs, which as ever look very appealing and extremely spicy – I am a big fan of Dukkah, so will do for me duckie! Karen
I can't speak for the going on's in your neck of the woods, but I have felt that here in the states from time to time. Glad someone finally spoke up!!!
This chicken sounds delicious… I just heard of dukkah recently.. don't even know if I can find it here, but will be on the lookout for it!
It looks fantastic and makes me want to go out and get some dukkah. I've only eaten it once as dip for bread dipped in olive oil and it was delicious.
Well put Dom! I have very similar feelings and am glad you are publicly speaking up about it. You are the king of chicken thighs and this is no exception – looks delicious, pass the plate please x
Gorgeous photo and colours, I woud so love to have a casserole pan (again- sold my old beast when was I was single, silly girl!).
Now I know what to do with the tub of dukkah gathering dust! 🙂
With every recipe you elevate chicken thighs above the humdrum and blah, Dom! I love your inventive flavors. I'll take these, please, even served wrapped in hessian and served on a wooden platter. 🙂
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