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Melissa Hemsley’s Perfect Summer Chicken Recipe

Summer Chicken Recipe
Contents

Feel good: a quick and easy new summer chicken recipe from Melissa Hemsley’s new book. Her ‘Mum’s Filipino Chicken’ with carrot-ginger dressing is the perfect thing for your next barbecue.

Words Melissa Hemsley

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 4 large chicken thighs, skin on and bone in (about 600g)
  • Sea salt and black pepper
  • 2 spring onions, finely sliced at an angle, to serve
Filipino-Style Sauce- 
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
  • 2 tsp–1 tbsp fish sauce or 2 tsp extra tamari or soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp (coconut) sugar or maple syrup
  • 2 star anise
  • ¼ tsp chilli flakes (or to taste)
Mango-Tomato Salsa- 
  • 1 big handful of fresh coriander
  • 100g cherry tomatoes, quarterd
  • 100g peeled ripe mango, pineapple or stone fruit, diced
  • 2cm fresh ginger, finely grated
  • ½ garlic clove, finely grated
  • 1 jalapeño or other chilli, deseeded and diced
  • Juice of 1½ limes
  • 4 spring onions or 1 small red onion, finely diced
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • A dash of hot sauce (optional)

METHOD:

  1. Preheat the oven to fan 220°C/gas mark 9. If using a barbecue, get it going now.
  2. Mix all the sauce ingredients together. Place the chicken thighs in an ovenproof dish big enough to arrange the pieces about 2cm apart, but not so big that you lose all the sauce as it cooks off in the oven.
  3. Add the sauce, coating each piece of chicken well in the mixture and leave for a few minutes, if you like.
  4. Place the chicken thighs skin-side up in the dish, sprinkle a little salt and pepper over each one and roast for 25 minutes or until well cooked and the juices run clear when pierced with a knife.
  5. Meanwhile, make the salsa. Roughly chop the leaves of the coriander and finely chop the stalks, then add to a serving bowl with all the other ingredients.
  6. Mix together well and leave to sit for 20 minutes (while the chicken is cooking). Serve the chicken scattered with the spring onions and with the salsa on the side.

Summer chicken recipe taken from Feel Good: Quick and Easy Recipes for Comfort and Joy by Melissa Hemsley, published by Ebury Press, £22

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