Chicken thighs baked to perfection and dressed with a rich sauce made from liqueur balsamic vinegar, green peppercorns, cream and pan juices. Great for a cold winter night and the sauce is a show stopper!
Chef's notes
Like all of my recipes this is GLUTEN FREE.
If you don't have pan juices then you can make the sauce using chicken stock instead for a similar result.
Try it with duck instead of chicken for a delicious alternative. (I confit the duck first to make it really tender.)
Ordinary balsamic vinegar can be used if you can't buy liqueur vinegar but you need to reduce it considerably and add some brown sugar to make it sweet.
Steps
1
Prepare the chicken.
Ingredients
4 x Chicken thighs with the skin on.
Freshly ground rock salt.
Freshly ground black pepper.
200ml Red Liqueur balsamic vinegar.
80ml light olive oil.
8 x anchovy fillets.
Pat the chicken dry with paper towel.
Pour the vinegar over the chicken and make sure it fully covers the meat and skin. You can marinate the chicken in the vinegar for an hour or so if you want but it's not really neccessary.
Sprinkle some of the salt and pepper onto the chicken.
Roughly chop the anchovy fillets and scatter over the thighs.
Pour the olive oil over the chicken.
Place two or three cup fulls of water into the baking tray.
2
Prepare the vegetables.
Ingredients
2 x medium carrots.
2 x potatoes.
2 x onions.
500ml grapeseed or similar oil.
2 x slices of sweet dry pumpkin.
1 x Parsnip.
Peel the carrots, parsnip, potatoes and onions.
Cut some nice thick wedges off the pumpkin. A sweet dry variety is generally the best. (I use "Potkin" or "Queensland Blue"). Leave the skin on the pumpkin.
3
Cook the Chicken.
Ingredients
Prepared chicken from above step.
Place the chicken on a rack in a baking tray.
Turn the oven on to 180 deg celsius and place the baking tray inside.
Cook the chicken, checking occasionally, for about 60 minutes.
Baste a few times with the juices from the pan
Check for doneness. The chicken should be nice and brown by this stage.
4
Cook the vegetables.
Ingredients
Prepared vegetables from above step.
500ml grapeseed or canola oil.
Place the oil into a suitable sized electric frypan.
Turn the heat up to maximum and when the oil is warm add the vegetables.
Cook, turning often until they are golden brown and tender if a fork is inserted gently.
Keep an eye on the pumpkin as it will burn faster than the other vegetables.
Remove the vegetables as they are done and place on a baking tray covered with aluminium foil. Cover the foil with a tea towel to help maintain the heat before serving.
5
Make the sauce.
Ingredients
1 x tablespoon of green peppercorns.
150 ml of thickened cream.
100 ml red liqueur balsamic vinegar.
Pan juices from the baked chicken.
Add the pan juices from the roast chicken to a suitable sized saucepan. Separate the fat as much as possible and discard.
Lightly crush the peppercorns and add to the juices.
Add the liqueur balsamic vinegar.
Bring to a rolling boil and reduce slightly.
Add the cream and reduce to a sauce like consistency.
6
Serve the dish
Ingredients
Baked vegetables from above.
Cooked chicken from above.
Liqueur sauce from above step.
Arrange the vegetables onto warm plates.
Place the chicken onto the vegetables and piur over a quantity of the sauce.
Serve whilst still warm.
Goes well with a nice glass of white wine, perhaps a Chardonnay.
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