All home cooks know that its sometimes hard to find inspiration for mealtimes, so when I was sent a selection of recipes by superchef and Masterchef: The Professionals judge Monica Galetti (shes the scary one) to promote Organic. Naturally Different it was manna from heaven especially as I had most of the ingredients in my store cupboards.
The La Gavroche chef and mum-of-one has teamed up with O.N. to sing the praises of organic produce not just in terms of taste and benefits to the environment, but also price-wise to challenge the perception that organic = expensive.
Well, I sourced most of the ingredients for this roast chicken thighs with fennel and lemon dish from Tesco and although the organic ingredients were a little bit more expensive, they werent significantly so: 4 organic chicken thighs were 5.35, compared to 5.17 fort non-organic; 1kg of new potatoes cost 1.54 compared to 1.40; and lemons were 33p each, compared to 27p.
In my book, you get what you pay for, and Im very happy to fork out an extra quid on a meal that is organic, with all the benefits that comes with that.
So what are the benefits?
According to the Organic. Naturally Different campaign¦
¢ Organic is better for nature
¢ Organic animals have high animal welfare standards
¢ Organic contains less pesticide residues
¢ Organic is natural and great tasting food.
Sold, to That Man in the Recipe Shed.
Anyway, without further ado, here is Monicas slightly modified (I didnt have any preserved lemons) recipe for Organic Roast Chicken Thights with Fennel and Lemon.
Serves 2-3
4 x chicken thighs
4tbsp lemon and lime marmalade
2 lemons (Monica used preserved lemons, but I didnt have any)
3 pinches of thyme leaves
10 small organic New Potatoes
1 fennel bulb
Quarter white cabbage
Salt and pepper
1. Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper then rub liberally with the marmalade and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Cut the fennel in half then slice roughly. Ditto for the cabbage. Sprinkle into the base of a deep roasting tray.
3. Remove seeds from lemons and roughly chop then sprinkle over the fennel and cabbage.
4. Scatter the thyme leaves and the baby potatoes on top. Season with the salt and pepper and then place the chicken pieces on top skin side up.
5. Place in oven and cook for about 1hr-1hr 30 mins, until the chicken and potatoes are tender.
6. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Monica says: œThis is such an easy meal and you can substitute the veg for whatever you have, i.e. shredded cabbage in place of fennel. Leftovers can be made into a chicken bake too. No fuss, just let the oven do its thing.
¢ For more information about the Organic.Naturally Different campaign visit the website www.organicukfood.com or visit us on Facebook www.facebook.com/organicuk and Twitter -@organicukfood.
¢ This is not a sponsored post.
