Friday 24 April 2015

Laziest Chicken Dish Ever


This dish is a dream come true for people who can't cook but want to impress other people that they can. hah..hah..hah...No lah, I am not insulting anybody, OK? Just sharing a dish which I think is very suitable for lazy people. Again, no insults intended.

What I am trying to say is that this chicken dish is cooked with minimal preparation. No cooking skills required. You basically just chuck the whole lot of chicken and some vegetables into the oven and leave them there for some 90 minutes. It's a slow cooked dish and you only do this if you are not in a hurry to eat.

I attempted this dish last year and I thought that I should revisit it. The last time, I used basil and this time I used rosemary. Honestly, I did not really like the herbs in this particular dish.


There is no marination required. Just place your chicken parts in a single layer on a baking dish and arrange cherry tomatoes, garlic or any vegetables (that can stand long cooking) you fancy, in between the chicken pieces. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle generously with olive oil. Then bake in the oven at 160C for 90 minutes. While all that is going on, you can go and do whatever you like.


This dish has a very mild flavor. Of course it is tasty as the chicken is moist and tender with crispy skin. The tomatoes and garlic become soft and sweet and impart a subtle flavor to the dish. But I reckon people who prefer prefer stronger flavours may find this dish rather uninteresting.


I guess you could marinate the chicken or use some spice seasoning to perk things up a bit but that would defeat the purpose as there is supposed to be minimal preparation, remember? I decided to stay with the original recipe and learn to enjoy simple clean flavours. 


The third time I made this dish, I omitted the herbs and added sweet peppers and red onions. I loved the soft mushy tomatoes, onions, peppers and garlic which imparted wonderful flavours to this dish. Though it was quite subtle compared to the spicy dishes that I am more accustomed too, I enjoyed it very much.

Having something simple and straightforward like this sure beats having to peel, pound and saute ingredients and spice pastes. Sometimes, keeping things simple is the best thing to do.


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Crispy Baked Chicken
Recipe source : Adapted from Jamie's Home Cooking Skills

Ingredients :
- 4 chicken whole chicken legs
- cherry tomatoes
- 1 whole bulb of garlic, crushed with skin on
- 1 big onion, sliced
- 2 sweet peppers, sliced
- olive oil
- salt and pepper

Method :
1. Salt and pepper the chicken legs.
2. Arrange chicken legs in a single layer in a baking dish.
3. Place the cherry tomatoes, garlic, onions and sweet peppers in between or at the bottom of the chicken legs.
4. Give the chicken a good generous splash of olive oil and bake the dish at 160C for 90 minutes. 
5. Serve immediately with salad, rice or pasta.




Photobucket

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

34 comments:

  1. Looks great! Anything easy, I'm all for it...

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  2. hahaha!!! this post looks like it's for RealGunners because of the "lazy man" theme but I guess it is, udang di sebalik batu, for SK who can't cook but just tahu makan!! muahahaha..

    yes, indeed very simple but I won't call it lazy lah.. lazy ppl won't even want to take the trouble to cook and then cleaning up the mess in the kitchen!!

    so just put the chicken and whatever you have in the kitchen into the tray and then chuck everything into the oven.. actually this is so Princess Ribbon style leh.. but of course you are more high level lah, I think you plan beforehand what you want to masuk into the tray right?? your sister on the other hand, would be more improvise, anything she can find.. haha!!

    actually the chicken don't look quite nice while still in the tray leh, too cramped inside perhaps and the color isn't inviting.. but after you place one on the plate, ah, this is more like it, indeed looks good!!! now we know presentation is really the thing to attract people to eat, and probably judge how the food would taste, agree??

    so you have 4 chicken legs in there, each of you walloped two legs?? fuyoh, luxury~~ :p

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    1. It looks nice because the tomatoes are so colourful and when I sprinkle with chopped parsley, wah look class bit lah. The chicken legs are not that big and once cooked it shrinks. So one person can hantam 2 chicken legs with no problems :D

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  3. I'm very interested in the title, coz I'm a lazy mommy, so I very sukak lazy dishes.. I got a feeling it's roast chicken, coz roast chicken is the easiest dish ever !! Just chuck in the oven only ma, kan? Eh, the ingredients simple wor, no oyster sauce, no tomato sauce.. Just seasoning only, and also cherry tomatoes.. Not bad wor, can do.. The dish doesn't look lazy at all, looks very high class, very elegant leh.. Wah, if bring to potluck, sure sapu habissttt...

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    1. I also like this type of dishes. Minimal effort but it looks good and taste good also. Can relax a bit when it is cooking in the oven.

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  4. This is exactly like how I usually do it, although I use chicken breast instead of legs. Yums!!

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    1. Yeah, I know except mine is without lemon juice!

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  5. You better than me, u can cook, bake very well, me only simple simple items as i super lazy...

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    1. Aiyo...you also can cook well when you are in the mood :D

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  6. You pakat with RG ah? His also very similar like this wor,

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    1. Very soon can become Lazy Woman hee..hee...

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  7. Phong Hong, this is just the thing for me, haha I have become very lazy since retired and the old bones not willing to move. I will have to omit the herbs because hubby doesn't like...but I will substitute local spices......

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    1. Nancy, I get lazy too and sometimes I don't feel like baking or cooking hah..hah,,,

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  8. Hi Phong Hong, I think my hubby will notice that I'm lazy to cook if I present this on the dinner table. He loves to see 'colours' in his meal. Maybe I'll add so Worchester Sauce for colour to it to make it more 'welcoming', hehehe!.

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    1. hah..hah...Kimmy, he is so used to your very delicious meals that he probably won't want to eat this one!

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  9. For some reason, a lot of people feel the same way as you do when it comes to rosemary. I didn't like it when I first tried it but now I do. It has this very perfumey smell and taste to it. If you find rosemary too strong a herb for you, use thyme instead. It's still perfumey but very easy to like. This herb in drinks is superb! I bake chicken like this all the time too, so simple, but I'll rub some dark soy to give it a bit of colour.

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    1. I find the smell of rosemary very strong when it is in the raw state but it becomes aromatic when sauted with onions. But in the oven, hmmm...it was not as nice for this particular dish. I have roasted chicken with rosemary using other recipes and it was quite good.

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  10. Phong Hong,
    Aiyoh ! I always make this type of one dish meal and my big kids love it leh! But I added potato and carrot, sprinkle some dried rosemary leaves & some seasoning etc. and off it goes into the oven ! Lazy ? Nah ... food that requires minimal preparation yet delicious ... we are efficient. .. have good time management ya ^-^!

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    1. Karen, that's the word I was looking for - Efficient! Yeah!

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  11. Hi Phong Hong,
    Simple and delicious! No need to stand over the stove! Good for me!

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  12. You know me so well! I love lazy dishes :)

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  13. Did you buy pre-washed chicken? If yes, then really minimal work needed because washing chicken is hard work. My mother always scrubbed the chicken skin for a long time to get rid of daki.

    I prefer the vege in your dish more than the chicken as I like sweet peppers.

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    1. Mun, sorry missed your comment!

      No, the chicken is not pre-washed. Had to do it myself :( The vege is pretty good as the roasting makes it tender and sweet.

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  14. Wow... It really looks yummy!

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  15. Hi Phong Hong, this lazy chicken dish look very appetizing ley. Simple and delicious. Thanks for sharing the laziest recipe. hahaha....

    Best regards.
    Amelia

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  16. looks like something i could use. haha

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  17. Hi Phong Hong,
    This is not lazy this is simple and heathy!
    No much seasoning it's all natural and original .. Yum!
    mui

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    Replies
    1. Hi mui mui! Yes, this is fuss free and all natural. Saves a lot of time!

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