Christmas festivities are a distant memory - it is still cold, wet and dark. Easter seems a long way off and amidst the gloom of yet another foggy day, but then, as if by magic, a little hope springs when we see a splash of colour from a snowdrop or an early crocus.
We should take these splashes of joy as a hint to liven up a relentless diet of warming comfort food, by adding little flavour bursts to remind us of better things to come. Add a blob of zingy salsa verde to a slow cooked lamb shoulder, stir a generous squeeze of lime juice through your chilli con carne with a little extra salt, or a brush of Gochuchang chilli paste on your chicken towards the end of roasting will really liven things up.
A quick mid-week supper of chicken legs with crispy roasted skin and a sauce enlivened with lemon, tomato and garlic will put a smile on your face in no time at all. Five minutes of preparation is all that’s needed, giving you time to start planning a spring get away over a glass of Pazos de Lusco Albarino, 2022 from Rias Baixas in North West Spain.
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 chicken legs - skin on, bone in
2 fat cloves of garlic
Generous sprig of thyme
50ml dry white wine
2 slices whole lemon
Squeeze of lemon juice
50 ml water
1 tomato cut into 1/2cm slices
Salt
Olive oil
To serve:
Rice
Aubergine
Basil
Method
Pre heat the oven to 170 degrees.
Choose a baking dish into which the chicken legs will fit snugly. Put everything apart from the chicken and olive oil in the bottom of the dish and season with salt.
Place the chicken on top, brush with olive oil and season chicken with salt.
Pop in the oven for 40 minutes or so until the skin is crisp and the chicken is soft.
Discard lemon and thyme.
Blitz cooking juices, garlic and tomato with a hand blender to make the sauce and serve with fluffy white rice and a little stew of tomatoes, aubergines and basil.
The Perfect Wine Match
Pazos de Lusco Albarino, Spain 2022
Meaning ‘sunset’ in the local Galician dialect, Lusco is a vibrant, bright, and relatively full-bodied Albariño. It has a powerful nose with aromas of fresh herbs, tropical fruits and floral tones, and is fresh and complex on the palate.
