Lemon and Lime Chicken in a Bag

Roast chicken.. a traditional but easy chicken dish to make . .. A safe bet when inviting guests over for dinner. I don’t know any one that has as a bad word to say about this dish.. But it’s time to make some changes and add some new ingredients to bring this back to life. I call this my lemon and lime chicken as it is cooked with limes and finished with lemons. A very easy dish to make and the flavours are just mouth watering. You are left with the most succulent and juicy pieces of chicken just full of great flavours and tanginess.  I find that chicken when cooked leaves some beautiful juices behind which are to be treasured and used again.

Once ready the chicken is then served on a bed of rice which has stir fried vegetables in it. All those beautiful juices from the limes and the chicken soak in to the rice making it so satisfying.

I could easily eat this dish 3 to 4 times a week !! do you think that’s a bit greedy ?

 

What you need to serve 4

For the chicken

·         8 pieces of chicken thigh pieces  with bone ( I find chicken cooked with bone gives greater flavour than without bone)

·         Lemon Parsley 20g ( this is a fresh bunch available in good supermarkets)

·         2 tbsp sage ( this is in a dry herb form )

·         1 lime cut in to wedges

·         1 tbsp olive oil

·         Salt and pepper to season ( according to taste )

·         1 large multipurpose roasting bag (available in good supermarkets)

·         1 tsp plain flour

 

For the rice

• Basmati rice 100g per person

• 1 leek

• 1 red pepper

• 1 green pepper

• 3 spring onions

• 4 mushrooms

• 1 lemon

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• Salt and pepper to season

 

How to put together

You can prepare the chicken ahead of time and leave in the roasting bag ready to put in the oven when you are ready.

For the chicken

Wash the chicken and leave to drip. Once dry get yourself a large bowl to marinade the meat. Chop the lemon parsley, then add the parsley, chicken, dry sage, salt, pepper and oil to the bowl and mix until all the herbs are absorbed in to the meat. Leave to one side. Get yourself an oven roasting dish that is large enough for the chicken and put the roasting bag in the tray. Add the plain flour in the bag. This is just to dust the bag before filling with the chicken. Add the marinated chicken. Then add the lime wedges to the bag. Use a tie provided to seal the bag. Lay the bag flat in the tray and cut a small hole in the bag to allow the air to escape.

Heat the oven and cook the chicken on gas mark 4 or 180C for 35 minutes

For the rice

Wash the rice in cold water and boil until cooked (according to the packets instructions). Once cooked drain and leave to one side. Gather all your vegetables from the above list. If you prefer other vegetables feel free to change them. Slice  them all into small but even sized pieces. Add the oil to a pan and fry all the vegetables until slightly soft. I usually cook only for about 5 minutes, as the vegetables will be going in the oven so another chance to cook. We do not want to overcook the vegetables and lose the wonderful goodness they provide. Take off the heat and add the rice to the veg. Add the juice from the 1 lemon, then add the salt and pepper and stir.

Once the chicken has cooked for about 35 minutes remove from the bag. Be careful with the steam that may come from the bag and ensure to keep hold of every last drop of the juices from the chicken.

Put the rice and the stir fried vegetables in the dish you have taken the chicken from and add all the juices from the chicken in to the rice. Do not add the chicken at this stage. Stir evenly re season with salt and pepper if needed, now add the chicken pieces on top of the bed of rice and put back in the oven for all the flavours to coat the rice. 10 minutes should be enough.

Dish up and enjoy every bite

Beautiful !!