Sunday, March 30, 2008

Chicken and Sausage Bake - Sunday night crazies

Well friends and family - It has been a bit crazy this weekend. I think the lack of sunshine and warm weather is really beginning to take its toll. The kids are getting into more trouble than usual (especially J - who is being particularly terrible - not listening to the point where when he flushed the toilet that was broken and it completely overflowed - right after I told him it was broken and not to touch it- quite a number of privileges are now on hold for a few days...)

Anyway - despite all this - dinner was terrific tonight.

Chicken and Sausage Bake (adapted from Nigella Feasts)

1 Cut up Chicken - I had 2 packages of split breasts and chicken leg quarters which I cut down into smaller parts (2 legs, 2 thighs - 4 pieces of breast cut crosswise...)
4 pieces sausage (I used chicken/turkey Andouille, because that is what I had on hand. Any sausage will do.)

1/2 white onion - chopped roughly
1 yellow onion - chopped roughly
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp (or 2 shakes) worsterchire sauce
1 tbsp dried sage (I crushed about 5-6 dried sage from last year's garden)
1/4 cup olive oil
pinch of kosher salt
bit of fresh ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Put onions, mustard, worsterchire sauce, sage, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix together to coat onions and combine ingredients.
3. Put chicken parts into mixture and mix together until chicken is well coated. (You could also at this point cover and marinate overnight. I didn't do that.)
4. Dump everything into a baking dish or casserole (I used my handy Le Crueset Dutch Oven - love that thing!!!)
5. Spread out chicken so it is in one layer and put sausages in between the chicken.
6. Put in oven and bake (uncovered) for 1 hour 20 minutes. At about 45 minutes in, open up and turn the sausage.
7. When you take it out of the oven, everything should be nice and carmelized - delicious!. (I served with jasmine rice and a salad)

I didn't do this, because of time, but once you take out all the chicken/onions/etc. there is some chicken fats and bits of onion left on the bottom. You could drain out some of the oil and deglaze the pan with some white wine- the sauce would probably be terrific!

Enjoy! And here's hoping that next week is a MUCH better week for everyone!

D

1 comment:

Marty said...

That really sounds yummy. And easy too.

I have another easy one for you with Sausage and grapes. There are about 5 versions of this, but this one sounds the best and so easy too.

It's Mark Bittman recipe.

Sausages With Grapes

Yield 4 servings

Time 30 minutes

Mark Bittman

Summary
Brown the sausages over moderate heat — not raging high heat — which significantly reduces spattering. To further minimize mess, don't prick the sausages to release their fat until they are mostly cooked; they will brown perfectly, even in a completely dry skillet.

Ingredients

•1 to 1 1/2 pounds fresh Italian sausage

•4 cups seedless grapes

•2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, or to taste

Method
•1. Place sausages in a 10- or 12-inch skillet, and turn heat to medium. Cook sausages, turning from time to time, about 15 minutes. When they are brown all over, prick each sausage in a few places with a thin-bladed knife and cook for 5 minutes more.

•2. Remove sausages to a warm platter. If more than a tablespoon or two of fat remains in the pan, remove excess. Add grapes, and turn heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until some of the grapes collapse. Add vinegar or lemon juice, stir, and turn off the heat. Serve sausages nestled in grapes.