Inauguration Day

Its Inauguration Day ….

….and of course I have zero time to go shopping for food - there’s CNN to watch and twitter feeds to fuel debate and instagram for stunning pics of Kamala and grotesque memes of a shabby mean loser called Donald.

So lets see what I’ve got to work with and take it from there - I recently cleared out my fridge and freezer but I made a Tagine the other day and I know I have some veg left over. And yesterday in a moment of genius when I was actually at the shops looking for just a cucumber - which took TWO shops to find - I picked up 2 large chicken breasts.

So look - with 450 g Chicken and a good bit of smoked bacon, from a notion I had about going Keto, and the pepper, courgette and carrot I have left over from the Tagine … lets take a look at my kitchen essentials … I’m thinking Paprika chicken or Spanish chicken.

The store cupboard has the essentials - onions, garlic, bay leaves, and lots of herbs - but since I have both a tin of tomatoes and sherry … lets go with Spanish chicken.

This is literally One Dish - bung it in and that’s it … lets go … there’s a woman heading to the White House and she’s not going as someones wife ….I need to be by my screen and not cooking.

450 g chicken - diced

5 bacon medallions – which came to -120 g

4 medium cloves garlic - chopped

2 white onions - halved and then quartered

1 courgette - sliced

1 orange pepper - roughly cut

1 large carrot - cut into batons

2 bay leaves

1 tin of tomatoes

 50mls sherry

1 teaspoon of oregano

1 teaspoon of Regular Paprika (not smoked)

1 teaspoon Hot paprika

2 pinches of sea salt

½ teaspoon of White Pepper

a few twists of Black Pepper

I popped it all in the oven in a pyrex dish covered for 20 mins at 180 and stirred and then 20 uncovered another stir and then I chose to do another 10 - 15 based on how it looked - it was more than I usually give but the carrots were slow to cook.

Total winner! I’d do it again and if I had a carrot I’d still be happy but another pepper or some green beans would also work - I’m sure regular bacon would also be fine - I usually use lardons but if using smoked bacon … I’d say smoked paprika would be overkill - I never use it so it’s not something I have in the house.

I’ll put this recipe up properly and I’ll post it with options for larger amounts of chicken … but not tonight Josephine … I’m going to re-watch the inauguration with a glass of Spanish Wine and enjoy the stunning Amanda Gorman steal the show from President Biden, VP Kamala Harris, Lady Gaga, J Lo and Garth Brooks - without any of them minding!

DM me with your thoughts if you try it or questions at Instagram or Twitter

Video of dish in Chicken Highlights on my Instagram page.