So at the start of July we have had our first windowsill grown produce on the table! The oregano that is out on the windowsill has been growing like crazy and so it was with great excitement that I scoured the cookbooks on our shelf for a tasty looking recipe that I could throw a whole load of home grown oregano into and Sarah Raven came up trumps! It is quite fitting that it is a recipe from this book that is the first one the windowsill produce is used in as it was Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook that first inspired me to attempt to grow something edible on the windowsills. To any edible growers out there who do not already own a copy I would highly recommend getting yourself down to a bookshop and picking one up.
So we cooked a wonderful oregano, olive and lemon chicken which is apparently a classic Greek dish. It was a lovely easy recipe too - just stick it in the oven and let it get on with it. I altered from the book slightly by using chicken legs and thighs rather than quartering my own chicken but here's what I did for the two of us:
Chicken legs and thighs (3-4 pieces per person)
Juice of 2 lemons
1 heaped tablespoon coarsely chopped oregano plus two whole sprigs
Salt and black pepper
500g Charlotte potatoes
15 kalamata olives
Olive oil
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Lay the chicken in a roasting tin and pour half the lemon juice over it, then sprinkle with some of the oregano, salt and pepper. Cut the potatoes into wedges and place in around the chicken. Add the olives, pour over the rest of the lemon juice and sprinkle over the remaining oregano. Using your hands make sure the potatoes are well coated in lemon juice and herbs. Pour over the olive oil, add the sprigs of oregano plus a cup of water and cook in the pre-heated oven for one and a half hours. When the chicken is cooked, remove it and allow it to rest while you turn up the heat to crisp up the potatoes in a very hot (220 degree C) oven for 15 minutes.We accompanied this with the lemon bean salad which can be found on page 210 of the garden cookbook and a nice cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Perfect!
I have entered this post on a website featuring "grow your own food". You can check it out and enter yourself here.
Great news! It's a good feeling, isn't it.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, my first home-grown meal came courtesy of someone who gave me the inspiration to get started too.
I've wanted to grow my own food (and to live on a smallholding - but that's a while off yet) for a long time, but it was while watching River Cottage that I realised just how much I wanted it so I put my name down for an allotment... and here I am.
The first meal from my plot was the broad beans and chorizo recipe from The River Cottage Year. Really nice.
Unfortunately my herbs won't be quite so close to the kitchen as yours but I guess I'll manage anyway. I'll just have to cut them as I'm leaving and get them right onto the plate when I get home.
Thanks for the comment. Broad beans and chorizo sounds gorgeous! Do you not have a windowsill somewhere at home where you could keep a small pot of herbs for emergencies when you haven't got time to go down to the allotment but still want something fresh and home grown?
ReplyDeleteglad you are participating this month in the GYO roundup! Congrats on your new windowsill garden, I look forward to seeing what comes up next :-)
ReplyDeleteNext up is likely to be our windfall chilli and our three red tomatoes which we just picked today. Although think they will need a bit of supplementing, not quite a meal in themselves! Watch this space...
ReplyDeleteThat is my kind of supper. Looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMarie - thanks so much for visiting and commenting on my blog. The meal was lovely - I can strongly recommend it!
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