Recipe for buttery chicken paillards and chicken tray bake

 

The dark meat is chicken thighs with fennel, lemon, and tomato in the red corner, and chicken breast with garlic, sage, and capers in the blue corner. Which one will come out on top? I adore both of them, and I hope you do as well.

 

Garlic, fennel, and tomato baked chicken thighs

Give your cooktop a break; this oven bake is a quick and easy way to serve flavorful chicken thighs (or drumsticks).

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg bone-in, skin-on Lilydale chicken thighs (or drumsticks).
• 150g all-purpose flour.

Herbs and garlic butter

• 50g of butter
• 3 finely grated garlic cloves (I used a Microplane)
• 10g finely chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon dry thyme
• ½ lemon zest

To put together

• 3 peeled and halved eschalots (French shallots)
• 1 tiny fennel head (cut into wedges)
• 1 cherry tomato punnet
• 1 lemon, peeled and cut into rounds
• a sprinkle of dried thyme olive oil 
• 100ml dry vermouth

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius (fan-forced) (190C conventional).
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the garlic butter. Season with salt and mash with a fork to combine. Remove the skin from each chicken thigh and spread an equal quantity of butter under the skin before replacing it. Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt and keep them in the fridge, uncovered, until ready to cook (ideally at least 30 minutes).
3. Place the flour on a tray or plate, and when you're ready to cook, take the chicken out of the refrigerator and toss it in the flour to lightly cover it. You only want the bare minimum of flour, so try to shake off any excess. Place it in the baking tray with the butter facing up, then scatter the remaining ingredients around the tray with the chicken. Finally, sprinkle some olive oil over the top, pour in the vermouth, and season with a bit of salt and thyme.
4. bake for 1 hour. Halfway through cooking, baste the chicken with any juices that have accumulated in the pan once more, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes, Before serving.

Serves 3-4

Paillards of chicken with sage, garlic, and brown butter

This one-pan chicken meal will quickly become a dinner favorite because to its buttery richness.

 INGREDIENTS

• 2 boneless, skinless Lilydale chicken breasts
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp rinsed (in brine) capers, roughly chopped
• 50g of butter
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled but not smashed
• ½ bunch of sage, plucked leaves
• juice and zest of ½ a lemon
• 100 ml chicken stock
• black pepper and salt

METHOD

1. Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of baking paper and butterfly them. Bash the chicken with a rolling pin until it is about 3-4mm thick. Remove the paper and season the chicken on both sides with salt & pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour that has been dumped onto a dish or pan.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large flat skillet over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Reduce the heat to medium after removing the chicken from the pan.
3. In the same pan, melt the butter and garlic to make the sauce. Add the capers and sage when the butter has browned, and cook for 30 seconds. Scrape the bottom of the pan with the chicken stock. Reduce the sauce by half by adding the lemon zest and juice. Return the chicken to the pan, coat it with the sauce, and heat it through for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Serve right away.

Serves 2