Chicory Roasted With Thyme Bacon Recipes

CHICORY ROASTED WITH THYME & BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Trim away the stalk ends of the heads of chicory, discard any limp outer leaves and quarter the vegetables lengthways.
• Brush a shallow baking dish with 2 tbsp olive oil, then add the chicory. Tuck the bay leaves and thyme sprigs in between the chicory, scatter the peeled whole garlic cloves on top and drizzle over 2 more tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
• Cut the bacon into strips and scatter over the chicory, then return the dish, uncovered, to the oven for about 30 minutes until the bacon is crisp. Serve straight from the oven, with hunks of wholemeal bread.

CARAMELISED CHICORY WITH ORANGE AND THYME

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180C, fan 160°C Grease a roasting tin, halve the chicory, or leave whole if small, and arrange side by side in the dish. Tuck the garlic among the chicory, season with black pepper and top with the thyme sprigs.
• Mix 1 tbsp orange juice with the honey and vinegar, then drizzle over the chicory. Dot with the butter then bake in the oven, uncovered, for 1 hour, turning the chicory 2 or 3 times, until tender when pierced with a knife. Add the orange zest for the last 10-15 minutes of cooking.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH SHALLOTS, THYME, BACON AND GARLIC CONFIT SAUCE

Steps:

• Stage 1, pre-bedtime. Pat chicken dry and season to taste with salt and pepper. Place a medium Dutch oven over high heat, and add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. When oil and butter barely begin to smoke, lay thighs skin side down in pan. Brown well on all sides until a rich amber color, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove chicken from pan, and discard fat.
• Return unwashed pan to medium heat, and add 2 remaining tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Add shallots, garlic, thyme and bacon. Stir gently (so garlic cloves don't lose their peels), until bacon is crisp and shallots and garlic are lightly browned. Raise heat, add wine and boil until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove pan from heat, and set aside at room temperature.
• Stage 2, post-bedtime. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Return Dutch oven to high heat. When liquid begins to simmer, rest chicken thighs skin side up on vegetables. Baste quickly with stock and wine, and transfer, uncovered, to oven. Bake 15 minutes, baste again, and bake 15 minutes more.
• Remove from oven, and transfer garlic cloves to a small plate. Separate cloves from their skins, and discard skins. Mash cloves with a fork, and return to sauce, stirring to mix. To serve, discard thyme sprigs, and place equal portions of chicken and shallots on two plates. Top with sauce. If desired, serve with rice.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH THYME, GARLIC AND BACON

Steps:

• Wash the chicken well, removing any excess fat pockets, and trimming the skin lightly if desired. Loosen the skin from the breast and leg meat carefully. Take out any innards trapped in the bones of the cavity and let fresh water clear it out. Dry the chicken well, all of you.
• Combine the thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a bowl. Stir well, adding the lemon zest, and strained juice, if desired.
• Slather some of the mixture into the cavity of the chicken. Put in the chopped bacon.
• Massage the remainder, as deeply as possible, into the breast and leg meat, reaching deep into the drumstick, and around the thighs.
• Tie the chicken legs. If any of the skin tears along the seam of the breast, tape it back together with toothpicks.
• Fit a roasting pan with a rack and add broth to a level that will not touch the chicken.
• Lay in the hen, breast side down and roast at 350 for 40-50 minutes.
• Retrieve the chicken from the oven, turn, breast side up. Continue roasting at 350 until done, and the breast registers 165 degrees in the thickest part. Make sure to take its temperature periodically, I find that people have other things to do and let the chicken cook lazily, thinking that it is never going to be done, and then go to check it, to find that it has already ruined. Check it, at least twice.
• Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and discard the rack. Transfer the drippings to a measuring cup. Retrieve off most of the fat, you can save some out to add back to the pan, if you feel the desire to have it a little richer, I don't really like a fat gravy.
• Taste the drippings, add more broth if desired.
• Do not have it too salty. Mix some cornstarch into a bowl with a little water or room temperature stock (about 2 tablespoons starch).
• Bring the drippings to a simmer in a small saucepan. Let the pan be slightly below the boil, and add in the starch, by degrees until it is thick and proper.
• Cook, if needed, then serve with the roast, carved up at table.