Baked Chicken with Thyme and Shallots and Sweet Potato Mash (Kosher for Passover)

There’s still two full days left of Passover. Are you wondering what to have for Friday night dinner? Are you bored of boiled and roast potatoes? Don’t even get me started on matzah!

Here’s a delicious recipe; it’s sweet, spicy and actually quite easy! Once you’ve prepared the chicken and sweet potatoes, they go in the oven, leaving you with an hour to wash up, set the table, make a salad or put your feet up!

This recipe is a perfect lunch or dinner during Passover or any other time. I used chicken thighs, but you could use legs or drumsticks instead.

Baked Chicken with Thyme and Shallots

Serves: 3
Prep time: 25 mins
Cooking Time: 1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs, skinless
8 shallots, peeled and halved
Handful of black olives, pitted and halved
1 lemon
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
Fresh thyme sprigs
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Sweet Potato Mash

3 large sweet potatoes, skin on
Olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.

2. Get your pestle and mortar out! Pour about 4 tbsp olive oil in, with the sliced garlic and chilli. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Grind it into a paste and then marinate the chicken pieces. Place them in an oven tray, ready to bake. Make sure every part of the chicken is covered.

3. Put the shallots and olives in the mortar to pick up any remaining marinade and then add to the tray with the fresh thyme and mix it all together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place in the middle of the hot oven for 1 hour.

4. Cut up the sweet potatoes to small roasties size. Drizzle with a little olive oil and place in the hot oven for 1 hour.

5. During the hour that everything is cooking, check the food twice and turn both the chicken and the sweet potatoes. This helps keep the chicken juicy and stop the potato going crispy.

6. You can make your salad or vegetables in this time.

7. After the cooking hour, stick a fork in the chicken and check that the juice is running clear. If not, put back in the oven for another 15 minutes and check again. Make sure you turn the chicken pieces so that they stay juicy.

8. Take the sweet potato out the oven. Gently peel the skins off and put the soft part of the potato in a bowl. Keep the skins as we’ll use those for something else! Add a pinch of salt and pepper and mash the soft sweet potato.

9. Take the chicken out the oven and check again. When it is cooked through and running clear, add the other half of the lemon juice.

Everything should now be ready to serve with your favourite veg or salad. (Or if you are making this for Shabbat, you can place it on your hot plate now!)

It really is quite delicious and I hope you agree!

Enjoy!

Try making homemade crisps with the sweet potato skins.

You may also like these recipes:

• Sweet Potato Skin Crisps
• Sweet Potato Chicken Pie
• Hot Chicken Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash and Vine Tomatoes
  

Hot Chicken Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash and Vine Tomatoes

As with most dieters, I yo-yo with my healthy eating. I’m not trying anything drastic, just a few more healthy options and conscious choices. However, it can sometimes be boring eating salads, as well as thinking about making them nutritionally balanced. This salad is something I created a few months ago when my friend was coming round for dinner. I wanted something healthy, high in protein and fibre, low in carbohydrate but still absolutely delicious. And seeing as it was successful, I made it again this weekend!

I use lots of flavours like paprika and garlic to give the salad a kick. It takes a bit longer than a simple salad because of the roasting, however it’s worth it if you have the time. If you’re not bothered about your carbohydrate intake, eat this salad with a delicious crusty loaf of bread.

Notes: If you don’t like raw courgette, use cucumber ribbons instead. I love olive oil, but again, you can swap this for your favourite cooking oil. And, if you have fresh herbs in your kitchen or garden, a few leaves of basil work beautifully on the tomatoes.

Start to finish time: 1 hr 15 mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive oil plus extra for drizzling
400g butternut squash, peeled and cubed
4 ripe vine tomatoes, halved along the middle (not the top)
1 courgette, ribboned
80g your favourite salad leaves
2 skinless chicken breasts
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 chicken stock cube
1/2 tsp paprika
A few sprigs of fresh thyme (*optional)
A few basil leaves (* optional)

For the dressing:
3 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp white wine vinegar

Salt & pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. On a tray, toss the butternut squash with 2 tbsp olive oil, the thyme, salt and pepper. Place in the middle of the oven.

2. Place the tomatoes on another tray, drizzle with olive oil, and put a slice of garlic on each half. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and place in the oven.

3. While the tomatoes and butternut squash roast, we prepare the salad and chicken. Make a few slits in the chicken breast to help it take in the flavour. In a bowl or mortar, mix the paprika, crushed garlic, and chicken stock cube with 2 tbsp olive oil. Grind to a paste and then coat the chicken in the paste and leave aside.

4. In a bowl, mix the salad leaves and ribboned courgette (you can simply do this with a potato peeler). Add the dressing and mix it all together.

5. When the squash and tomatoes have been roasting for about 40 minutes and look golden, move them to the bottom of the oven and switch to grill. (Or cook the chicken in a separate grill.) Place the chicken under the grill and cook for about 7 minutes or until it’s turned white and then turn over and cook for another 7 minutes. Then, check the chicken has cooked by slicing it and checking the juice runs clear.

6. Assemble the salad by placing it in the middle of the plate with the chicken breast on top. Put the tomatoes and roasted squash around the plate.

Et voila!

Another healthy salad:

Goat’s Cheese Crostini Salad With Toasted Seeds

Sweet Potato Chicken Pie

One of my favourite things to cook is chicken pie. You can add whatever vegetables and herbs you like and make it different every time. It’s cheap to make, and, although a bit time consuming, not very difficult.

Tonight I am making my chicken pie with leek and sweet potato. For a kosher version, simply use margerine instead of butter, glaze with an egg, and exclude the cream. Use dairy free pastry or make your own. Puff or shortcrust. It works just as well.

Although I’m uploading my recipe, I’d like you to read it with a pinch of salt! I’m not the sort of person that follows recipes strictly, and so I tend to make things up as I’m cooking. I consider recipes to be inspiration rather than instructions. Therefore I’d like you to feel free to do the same. Don’t like tarragon? Don’t add it. Don’t like leek? Change it to mushroom. You get the picture…

Chicken Pie with Leek and Sweet Potato

Start to finish time:  1 hr 30 mins
Serves: 3 people

25g cooking butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 skinless chicken breasts
1 large or 2 medium white onions
1/2 red onion
2 large garlic cloves
1 large leek
1 large sweet potato
200ml chicken stock
1 tsp dried parsley or a bunch of fresh parsley
1/4 tsp paprika
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried thyme or a fresh bunch
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 glass of white wine
100ml cream
Ready rolled puff pastry
2 tablespoons of plain/cornflour
salt & pepper
milk/egg to glaze

Preheat the oven to 180.

Thinly slice all the onion and garlic. Heat a pan with the oil and butter and when hot, add the onion, then a few minutes later the garlic.  Gently fry on a low heat for a few minutes. In the meantime, wash and slice the leeks. Rings are fine as they cook away anyway. Stir in the leek and cook it all until soft. Keep stirring. If you want to add other vegetables such as mushroom now is the time.

Cut the chicken to evenly sized cubes and add to the pot. Give it a stir and then add all the herbs, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add the wine and stock or 200ml water and 1 chicken stock cube. I like Kallo organic stock cubes.

Cook with the lid on for about 15 minutes and stir every so often.

In the meantime prepare the pasty. If you have ready rolled puff pastry all you need to do is put the dish over it and cut around it. If you have roll it yourself pastry then flour your clean worktop and rolling pin, and roll it out to about 8mm thick. Then shape it on the dish.

I definitely do not have time to make my own pastry.

If you prefer the kind of pie with pastry all around, buy ready rolled shortcrust pastry. Butter the dish first, and then put pastry on the bottom and around the sides. Then blind bake it for about 15 mins, or while the pot is simmering.

Add the sweet potato, evenly cubed 2x2cm. Stir in and cook for a few minutes.

Lastly, slowly add the cream and stir in. Make sure it is on a low heat. If the mixture is too runny, add about 2 tablespoons of flour making sure to add a little at a time and mix it in to avoid lumps.

The mixture is almost ready. Taste it! If it tastes good but something is missing, you can add a teaspoon of white wine vinegar, and more salt/pepper/stock. Remove the bay leaves and thyme stalks.

When it is the right thickness, add the mixture to your pot and drape the pastry on top. If you have any leftover pastry, cut out leaf shapes and place on top. Glaze the pastry with milk or egg, and pop it in the middle of the oven.

Open a bottle of wine and sit back for 30 minutes or until the pastry is perfectly puffed and golden.

Enjoy!

If you try my recipe I’d love to hear from you about how it went! Also feel free to ask questions if something isn’t clear.