Came home from successful shopping trip to find husband and friends heading out for the £4 all day breakfast that the cafe opposite does so well. Alas, they were back in 5 minutes - the breakfast not being as all day as they had hoped. So, I scrambled together a tortilla/omlette affair and toast. And when I offered a round of toast and jam for pud - it went down very well! Am concerned that my culinary reputation has been lost by showcasing this classic dessert!
Back to the day's baking! Whipped up some Melting Moments, chosed by the husband from a book recently sent to me by my new mother-in-law. A lovely easy mixture, similar to a rock bun, rolled into balls, and rolled in coconut and oats - before popping a bit of cherry on the top and baking. They have a nice little crunch on the outside and are soft, sweet and buttery on the inside. Just right with a cup of tea!During my first week at a new job, I was taken to The Fox, (near Old St), and had a whopping meal, consisting of a black pudding starter, and then 1/2 a chicken with the yummiest of potatoes. So, thought I would try and recreate the dish for Sunday supper. Large chicken legs are just right for two, and the potatoes make a great alternative to roast, or dauphinoise - and are nice and healthy!
First I set the oven to 200. This was probably a bit high for the potatoes - which would be best having a long, slow cook at a lower temp - but I wanted the heat for the chicken.
Next, in a bowl I mixed, olive oil (a good few glugs), salt, pepper, a good shake of dried herbs, 3 crushed cloves of garlic, an onion (chopped roughly but quite small), and a large tomato (again, chopped into a rough, large dice).
Having mixed this up together, I chopped 5/6 potatoes, into thick (1cm ish) slices. Skin on. These go into the bowl with the tomato mixture and shake around to get a good coating on all the potoato slices of the oil and herbs and garlic. Shake the whole mixture into a roasting dish, so that the potatoes can spread out (a rough layer of 2 thick should be fine). Cover with foil and put in the oven.
I gave them an hour or so in a hot oven, but they would be good cooking slowly underneath a whole chicken.
With the chicken, I rubbed some butter, salt, herbs and pepper under the skin and some more salt on top. These had half and hour in the oven with foil on the top, then half an hour without it.
When I took the chicken out, I let it rest covered with the foil and made gravy from the juice. And we had a little kale too - just for greenery.
