slow-cooked chicken thighs with orange, radish and honey

 

… it’s been two weeks since i’ve been back at Belleau and I can feel every hour of every day that I’ve been away crushing against my soul… ok, this may be a slight exaggeration but I feel like i’ve barely been in the kitchen let alone cooked anything worthy of writing down for such a long time.  We’ve just been so busy that there’s been a lot of food neglect and whilst I can’t yet tell you too much about the very exciting project that we at The Persuaders have been working on, what I can tell you is that it’s really cool, will involve the most delicious food and drinks – although this is not its primary function and although the activity will take place in London, it will be open for long enough throughout the summer to allow plenty of time for people to come and visit from far and wide… so if any of you out there are planning a trip to the big smoke then we have a rather wonderful surprise in store.  I will tell you more over the next few weeks.  In the meantime I am back home and literally itching to get cooking.  I have plenty planned over the next 50 or so hours but I thought i’d start with something simple and divine and an absolute Belleau Kitchen classic…

slow-cooked chicken thighs with orange, radish and honey
not only has it been weeks since i’ve been in the kitchen but it must be months since I slow-roasted chicken thighs… as many of my readers will know I am a huge fan of the humble chicken thigh.  They are cheap, will take a lot of battering in the oven, which makes them so excellent for slow-cooking and most importantly are extremely tasty.  I always buy mine with the bone in and skin on, as there’s plenty of wonderful juices and fat in that skin so you don’t need any extra oil or butter as they are essentially self-basting and will be so tender and juicy when they come out of the oven, you won’t quite believe it… but if you’re not into crispy chicken skin – and of you’re not, you’re no friend of mine, then they are quite a succulent nugget of chickeny flesh so make for great family-freindly food.  I love this meal.  The honey, which I bought at the local market recently and is a beautiful Lincolnshire honey, and orange work beautifully well with the richness of the chicken thighs and they little radishes are bursting with lustful joy… and it’s a great fast to make, slow-cooked meal that can go on when you get a spare second in the afternoon and will be ready to serve at tea-time when everyone’s tired and hungry…

6 juicy chicken thighs – skin on and bone in
1 large carrot – roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic – un-peeled
half a fennel bulb – roughly chopped
1 stick of celery – roughly chopped
7 or 8 large radish – halved
1 tablespoon runny honey – locally sourced
1 large orane – quartered
fresh rosemary and thyme
salt and pepper

pre-heat the oven to 120C

place all the chopped veg into the bottom of an oven-proof dish, season well with salt and pepper and fresh herbs and then lay the chicken thighs, skin side up, on top, then place the orange segments between each thigh

cover with foil and place in the oven for 1 hour, then remove the foil and place back in the oven for 30 mins, then turn the thighs over and drizzle with half the honey and pop back in the oven for a further 30 mins

finally, turn the thighs back over to skin side up, drizzle the remaining honey on top, turn the heat up to £160C and pop back into the oven for a final 15 – 20 mins for a final burst of crispy heat

I am linking this to the slow cooked challenge hosted so beautifully by Farmersgirl Kitchen and Baking Queen, which has the theme of Oranges and Lemons

and of course because chicken thighs are just so friendly on the purse, this recipe is also going over to the credit crunch munch link-up hosted by Fab Food 4 All and Fuss Free Flavours and encourages us to eat beautifully on the cheap!

eat and of course, enjoy!