Day 66: it makes me happy
Much to be happy for today. Really! But I will be keeping this ons shortish. A lot has happened in the past few days (all good) and I could talk for aeons about it. However, I need to take early leave from screen time. I can barely keep my eyes open!
I made today’s pick a few days ago, Tuesday I think it was, and since then I’ve had the immense pleasure and honour of being featured on Nigella’s Instagram account! Hand on my heart, it makes me so happy. It also sent lots of lovely new followers to my account, so if you’ve landed here today - welcome!
I mentioned last week that this was definitely a Simply Nigella kind of week: work is so busy at the moment and after 10-hours of screen time I very much yearn for delicious, feel good food that’s easy to prepare. And Nigella’s Chicken Traybake With Bitter Orange and Fennel delivered just that plus a dose of extra happiness at the same time.
Nigella’s Chicken Traybake With Bitter Orange and Fennel
Fennel makes me very happy. That’s where the first dose of happiness came from. The second, in the form of bitterness. This is a new profile for me: I often avoid anything bitter-tasting as it leaves a nasty aftertaste, I find. But it’s one marvellous revelation after another in this cookalong and I happily embrace all new opportunities to try different things.
I really wanted to try Seville oranges: I don’t think I ever have. In fact, it’s safe to assume that I never have given the fact I've just said I avoid bitter tastes. Anyway, it seemed that now was not the time either. All of my usual haunts were not stocking them, so I have either missed the season or sourcing was an issue. Whatever the reason was, I was perfectly happy to use the alternative of lemon juice and the zest, and juice, of an orange.
I halved the chicken portion but kept the fennel portion the same: I wanted it to double up as the main vegetable (and I feel that justified doing extra). I served it alongside boiled potatoes with a tarragon and horseradish butter drizzled over the top. This is my favourite way to eat boiled potatoes: boil potatoes of your choice until tender and then in a pan - I use an old copper cup measure - gently melt butter with horseradish (from a jar is fine) and dried tarragon until hot; drizzle this over the drained potatoes and complete with a scattering of fresh dill (I keep a stash of fresh dill chopped in the freezer). Sweet, anise-infused perfection and the perfect echoing of flavour for this traybake.
Flavour musings
My discovery of traybakes really only began with this cookalong and I think this only marks my second one. Seems ridiculous that I’ve never done it before: those gorgeous juices from the chicken thighs (or other meat) oozing into the baking fennel (or other vegetables), and the anise (or other) aromas rising up in the steam through the chicken. Just delicious.
Even though I halved the recipe, I still had some chicken left and a little bit of fennel. So, for dinner the next day, I took the chicken off the bone, chopped it roughly with the fennel, and put the bones in salted boiling water (enough to cook spaghetti for two). In a deep frying pan/wok, I gently heated two fat cloves of garlic, chilli flakes, dried tarragon and the zest of a lemon (keep the juice) in olive oil before adding a splash of dry white vermouth and the leftover fennel and chicken. I took the bones out of the boiling water and - not wanting to waste any of their goodness and flavour - added the spaghetti to this fast, light stock and cooked according to the packet instructions. I then added the spaghetti to the chicken and fennel mix with tongs (didn’t strain), along with more extra virgin oil olive oil, the juice of the lemon and a good handful of chopped fresh parsley; tumbling through until the anise mix adhered to the spaghetti. Served into bowls with cracked black pepper and more extra virgin olive oil.
This leftover meal took inspiration from Nigella’s Spaghetti With Lemon, Garlic and Breadcrumbs.
I was very happy to continue my new-found love of bitterness with Nigella’s Chicken Traybake with Bitter Orange and Fennel: a delicious combination of tender-sweet chicken and bitter-sweet anise crunch. What’s next?
