Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Garlic & Chilli Chicken with Salad

We're having a hot spell here in Melbourne which is shitting me up the wall. It's Autumn and I want crisp,cool days so I can start wearing my coats and doing some good ol' slow cooking. It's a bit hard to do that when it's 31 fricken degrees everyday!

I arrived home from work tired and hungry. I needed something quick and not heavy so I decided on good old chicken and salad. Drumsticks are quicker to cook than a whole chicken-not to mention cheaper-so I grabbed 2 packs of those and then wandered around to the Lebanese mixed business around the corner at the Circle to pick up some fresh salad ingredients. Here's how it all turned out;

Firstly, pre heat your oven to about 250 to get it nice and hot



In a pestle and mortar, I placed 4 cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of rock salt and one very hot,red chilli. I pounded this into a paste then added some extra virgin olive oil-about 2 tablespoons. Using my hands, I coated the chicken pieces with this paste. Make sure you wash your hands well before AND after!
Place your chicken in the oven and turn it down to about 200.

At this stage I like to put my feet up for a moment and pour a glass of wine.

The chicken should take about 30 to 45 minutes.

Now to prepare the salad;


Take a salad onion and use only half as it can be a bit on the strong side and it over powers the other flavours.

I found these (di)vine ripened cherry tomatoes and they were really sweet and lovely. I halved them so they could absorb the dressing.



A nice mix of salad leaves,washed and spun off. Place all ingredients in a bowl, drizzle with balsamic and olive oil and toss.

I was soooo hungry I forgot to photograph the finished product. Suffice to say, it was scrumdiddlyumptious.

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