Recipe Brown sugar roasted chicken thighs with mushrooms & shallots

[Morning Glory]

This dish is easy to assemble and cooks in 35 minutes. For me, the use of dry sherry is essential here - it adds a subtle ‘nutty’ dimension and depth of flavour. The result is deliciously sweet, savoury and addictive. You need to serve this with potatoes to soak up the the ‘gravy’. The ingredients serve two but can easily be multiplied. Use a baking dish which fits the chicken thighs snugly.

Ingredients (serves 2)
100g mushrooms
2 banana shallots (or substitute half an onion)
2 large chicken thighs (skin on, bone in)
2 bay leaves
A few sprigs of rosemary
Olive oil (to drizzle)
Salt
1½ tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp dry sherry
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
A few small pieces of butter

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180 C
2. Cut the mushrooms into thick slices or halves, depending on size.
3. Peel the shallots and cut into halves, from root to tip. Try to retain some of the root so that they stay intact.
4. Place the mushrooms on the base of the baking dish.
5. Place the chicken thighs on top and tuck the shallots, bay leaves and rosemary around the chicken.
6. Drizzle olive oil over the chicken and sprinkle with a little salt. Cook for 10 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, mix together the brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, sherry and Worcestershire sauce.
8. Pour the mixture over the chicken and place a few pieces of butter over and around the chicken.
9. Cook for a further 20 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown.

 

[AgileMJOLNIR]

Yum, this looks nice a nice fresh and healthy dish Morning.
This is a strange observation but is that a Bay Leaf at the bottom of both pics? If it is it looks different than the Bay Leaves here in the states that I’m accustomed too,

It has me curious if the flavor profile is different and more importantly where I can get some to try them out!

The ones I buy here look like this, no wavy ridges on the outer rim.

 

[Morning Glory]

This is a strange observation but is that a Bay Leaf at the bottom of both pics? If it is it looks different than the Bay Leaves here in the states that I’m accustomed too,

Yes it is. My bay trees are the standard kind (Laurus Nobilis) and a good majority of the leaves look like this. If you search leaf curl in bay there is something called bay sucker (an infestation) but that isn't what mine have. In fact, if you look at the RHS website (the oracle )the photo shows leaves like mine. It could be that the ones you buy are young leaves? I really don't know.

Bay tree (Laurus nobilis) / RHS Gardening

 

[AgileMJOLNIR]

Yes it is. My bay trees are the standard kind (Laurus Nobilis) and a good majority of the leaves look like this. If you search leaf curl in bay there is something called bay sucker (an infestation) but that isn't what mine have. In fact, if you look at the RHS website (the oracle )the photo shows leaves like mine. It could be that the ones you buy are young leaves? I really don't know.

Bay tree (Laurus nobilis) / RHS Gardening

I shall take a look into it then, thank you

 

[Morning Glory]

I shall take a look into it then, thank you

There is a 'bay' confusion in culinary terms though, because Indian bay leaves (sold in Asian shops) are not true bay leaves but are related to cinnamon. They are really wonderful and add a 'meaty' flavour to dishes (not only Indian dishes). They are easily identified by the the veins which run from stem to tip.