FLOWER POT KITCHEN: STICKY LEMON GARLIC SKILLET CHICKEN

26 Nov 2017

STICKY LEMON GARLIC SKILLET CHICKEN

Fabulous one pan cooking, this gorgeous crispy nutty garlicky sweet sticky lemon chicken is a mouthwatering brilliant mid week dinner treat and on the table in only 15 minutes it pleases the family cook too.

Prep / Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 2-4)

4 boned out skin on chicken thighs

1 large bulb garlic chunky chopped

1 red chilli sliced

1 lemon juiced

2 tbsp local honey

50ml olive oil

1 tbsp butter optional

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt

1 pinch fresh ground black pepper

Place the olive oil in your skillet and bring to a medium high heat, season the chicken thighs with the salt and pepper and place skin side down in the skillet, cook for 5 minutes with out being tempted to turn the thighs over, this is hard I know, but crucial to a crispy skin.

At 5 minutes turn the thighs over and lower the heat to medium, cook for a further 3 minutes then add the garlic and chillies, cook the garlic and chillies for a couple of minutes to soften and caramelise the garlic giving it a nutty flavour, remove the chicken, garlic and chillies from the pan and place on a plate to rest for a couple of minutes while you...

Heat the skillet again to medium hot heat again add the lemon and honey to the skillet bringing to a simmer, reduce for a minute or so until you have a sticky sauce, take off the heat and toss the rested chicken and garlic back in the pan coating the chicken well. Serve your chicken and spoon over the sweet sticky garlicky lemon sauce and enjoy. Suggested sides: rice, cauliflower rice, creamy buttery mashed potatoes, wedges, salad, flatbreads,

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.