Chicken, Tomato and Fennel Casserole

I am absolutely crazy about Bill Granger. I love his books, I love his TV shows and I love his recipes.

One of my favourites is his chicken, tomato and fennel casserole. It is delicious and easy to make, like all his recipes. This recipe comes from his book called "Every Day".

Serve it with potatoes, serve it with rice or serve it with garlic bread. It doesn't matter what you serve it with as long as you make this lovely dish.

Ingredients
2tbsp olive oil
8 chicken thigh cutlets on the bone, with skin
1 onion, sliced
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
½tsp crushed fennel seeds
2tsp paprika
½ tsp saffron threads, soaked in 1tbsp water
Wide strip of orange rind 400g (14oz) tin chopped tomatoes
500ml (17fl oz/2 cups) chicken stock
1 red pepper (capsicum), roasted and thinly sliced
2tsp honey
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken (in batches, if necessary) and brown for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside. Drain most of the oil from the pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion and fennel to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 7-8 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

Add the garlic, fennel seeds and paprika and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add to the pan the saffron with its liquid, the orange rind, tomatoes, stock and pepper, and stir well. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Skim any oil from the top of the casserole. Stir in the honey and season with salt and pepper. 


Notes:
- I substituted the red pepper with mushrooms
- I couldn't find saffron at my local shop so I left it out.
- I used chicken drum sticks instead of thighs, since that was what I had in the fridge!

Curried Chicken Rice a la Bill Granger

Now this is my husband's favourite dish.

I stumbled across it a few years ago when I first discovered Bill Granger's cookbooks. It is very easy to make and simply delicious. Essentially it is a one pot dish, once the prep work is done you just pop it in the oven and about 50 minutes later dinner is served. Chicken with rice, served with a salad. Yum yum yum.

Trust me, this dish is a winner and you simply have to make it.

As always I modified the original recipe slightly... I added peas to the dish since I think peas go really well with rice.

Here is the recipe as per Simply Bill by Bill Granger.

Ingredients:
1kg chicken pieces on the bone, with skin
2 tbsp Indian curry powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic gloves, crushed
300g basmati rice
750ml chicken stock
1 cup frozen peas

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).
Put the chicken in a large bowl, add the curry powder and toss to coat well.
Place a heavy-based casserole pan with tight fitting lid over medium heat.
Add the oil and chicken pieces and cook until they are sealed and browned all over.
Remove the chicken to a place.
Add the onion and garlic to the casserole and cook until the onion is soft and pale golden.
Add the rice, stir to combine and cook for 2 minutes.Put the chicken back into the casserole in a single layer over the rice and carefully pour in the stock.
Scatter the peas over the chicken.

Put on the lid and bake in the oven for 45 minutes of until the rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid and the chicken is cooked through.

Serves 4.

The choice is yours, add peas or not, serve with a lovely cucumber salad or some greens.
Go on, rush to the shop and buy the ingredients. You won't be sorry!