Monday, April 12, 2021

Easy Chicken and Baby Potatoes



In summer when the temperature and humidity make life quite difficult, the thought of cooking meals becomes quite unbearable. But we have to eat! And that's when I find myself making one-pot meals or easy dishes that can be had with bread so I don't have to cook rice. Since K loves bread anyway this is never a cause for complaint in our house. Among my many go to recipes in summer is this pan roasted chicken where I follow a few very basic principles and then vary some of the details so there is variety on the table without a whole lot of mental or physical effort. 

This easy chicken with baby potatoes is a dish that requires minimal effort and comes together in around 30 minutes if you have your chicken thawed and ready and a a couple of time saving ingredients like stock cubes in you pantry. 

Easy Chicken with Baby Potatoes

1 chicken, curry cut

20 baby potatoes, washed thoroughly and halved (don't peel)

a few cloves of peeled garlic

1 stock cube - vegetable/chicken/ham/beef

2-3 large onions, sliced thick

a stalk or two of celery (optional)

salt

pepper

olive oil

In a nonstick pan drizzle a little oil and sprinkle some salt and heat the pan. Place the baby potatoes cut side down in a neat layer, cover the pan, and let the potatoes cook on low heat. 

In a cooking pot heat some olive oil and chuck in the sliced onions and the peeled garlic along with some salt. Let it cook on medium heat for a few minutes till the onions change to translucent. Don't let the onions brown, so stir frequently. Add the chicken pieces - the legs and other bony bits first and after five minutes the meaty breast and other fleshy pieces. Legs take longer to cook so put the breast pieces into the pot a little later so they don't get overcooked and chewy. 

Crumble in the stock cube, add a generous amount of pepper powder (use freshly bashed for better flavour always!). Add salt to taste keeping in mind that you've added salt in the onions and that the stock cube will have a decent bit of salt. Add the baby potatoes from the other pan and mix everything nicely. Add celery stalks now if you have them. 

Cover the pot and let it cook for around 20 minutes on low-medium heat. Stir occasionally to cook everything evenly. The chicken and the onions will release enough water for the meat and the potatoes to get cooked. 

Serve hot with fresh pao or sliced bread, whatever you prefer.  


Stock Cubes

Stock cubes are very versatile and I have a few different kinds. You only need one though to make life in the kitchen easier. Keep veg cubes or the chicken ones and you're sorted. Though I'm no advocate of adding cubes to everything or using them daily, occasional use is perfectly fine. They can be a lifesaver when there's not much else by way of ingredients or when you want a quick fix meal without having to put too much thought or effort into it. 



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