Spiced chicken with orange

This is what we had for dinner last night - really good, fuss-free. The recipe is from Diana Henry's new book, Cook Simple, although I tinkered with it a bit (no chicken stock, so I used dry sherry and water, which meant I had to use more honey, also a little balsamic vinegar). Even though this dish contains cooked oranges, there's not a hint of marmalade in the finished dish. It's particularly good at this time of year, when oranges are plentiful and in season - I used blood oranges (although Waitrose, irritatingly, now call them blush oranges). Warmly recommended.

Turkish chicken with oranges and warm spices

for 4

8 chicken thighs (I used strips of breast)
2 red onions, sliced into wedges
2 oranges, sliced into wedges
5 crushed garlic cloves
1 small red chilli, chopped small
3 tsp ground coriander
1 cinnamon stick
75g raisins
juice of an orange
150 ml chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp honey
a small handful of mint leaves

Brown the chicken thighs on each side in a little oil in a shallow casserole; lift out and set aside (skip this if you are using strips of breast). Briefly saute the orange and onion wedges, add the garlic, chilli, spices and raisins and carry on cooking for a few more minutes. Add the juice, stock and honey. Simmer for 10 minutes. You can do all this ahead if you like. I added a little dried mint, because there's no mint in my garden at present.

Put the chicken into the pan and simmer until done - 20-25 minutes for thighs, 12-15 minutes for breast strips. Chop in the mint leaves (in summer). I stirred in some mixed salad leaves. Serve with plain rice and Greek yoghurt.


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