So the feasting of Easter is over and I'm left feeling a bit bloated and tired from all the over indulgence. Easter for us this year was mostly a big birthday party for my nephew who turned four, we had a fancy dress party followed by lots of cake, more cake and then a rained off BBQ... typical for Easter!
After a drive back from Southampton to my London flat I was left exhausted from all the running around and entertaining kids dressed as batman and really wanted something soothing, healing but simple, something I didn't have to labour over. I initially wanted a chicken soup but then I realised I wanted something a bit more substantial. So I created this dish, which I suppose is a hybrid between a tagine and a light stew.
I prepared this dish like a tagine in the sense of layering but added more water to it to create a soupy base.
My biggest tip is buying whole chicken. I always go the local market in tooting and buy fresh chicken and then when I get home I prepare it in the following ways. I take of the wings and leave those in a freezer bag. This ends up being my go to flavour enhancer if I need to add depth of flavour to a stock or soup base, all you have to do is take it out of the freezer then add it as your wish. I remove the breasts and leave those aside and use them specifically in pies and home-made kebabs, or for my salad days where I want to grill chicken and serve alongside a simple salad. Now the brown meat, I chop this up using a heavy handed cleaver. This dish I used a quarter chicken and chopped them up exposing the bone. The bone marrow helps to thicken the sauce and gives extra flavour which you wouldn't achieve if the thigh and leg meat where left in tact.
So here's my simple 'Lazy Chicken One Pot Wonder'
Pre-chop and marinade the meat in the following spices. Set aside for 30 mins.
Quarter chicken, skin on and cut into four - five inch pieces exposing the bone.
1tsp tumeric
2tsp ground cumin
1bsp sweet paprika
zest of one lemon
1 brown onion sliced
2 cloves of garlic
Finely chopped coriander stalk
4 tomatoes sliced into thin rings
300ml water
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
Salt and pepper to season
Pre heat the oven to 160
In a heavy based casserole (Le Creuset) layer the onions on the base, sprinkle over the chopped garlic and coriander stalk. Layer over the tomatoes and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the chicken over the tomatoes, then cover with broccoli (see pic below). Layer more coriander stalk and some more salt and pepper and place in the oven to cook for one hour.