Tonight we're having chicken . . . no, prawns

So the plan was to make the Devil's Chicken Thighs with Braised Leeks from Smitten Kitchen on Saturday night. A nice slow-cooking dish when we didn't have any other plans on a Saturday. Somehow, though, it ended up being 8pm before I even realised (British Summer Time has started and it is light until so much later - it has really thrown me!).

I decided to persevere and as instructed, we started the Braised Leeks first. The leeks were pan-fried and then braised in the oven for 30 minutes with some shallots, white wine and chicken stock. All good ingredients and as promised, they looked and smelled amazing.


So the leeks were braising away when I turned to the chicken part of the recipe to read 'marinate for 4 hours or overnight'. Whoops! I do recall reading that part, but somehow it slipped my mind . . .

So with the leeks braised and the chicken marinating, in a rare spontaneous food moment, I decided to make Sunday's dinner on Saturday and vice-versa.

The plan for Sunday's dinner was to make something to go with the lone bottle of Riesling I have had for ages. I'll admit - I'm scared of Riesling. I imagine it to be sweet and quite gross actually. But it is so fashionable - you read about how fabulous it is everywhere. So I must have bought this bottle in an attempt to overcome my fear and all that has happened is it has sat there while cartons of wine have come and gone around it. So this was it. I chose a recipe for Spiced Shrimps with sautéed spinach.


It was a bit weird, to be honest. Strange sauce made with red capsicum, basil, garlic and lots of oil, so the whole dish was really oily - you can see it on the plate. The prawns in the chilli flour were not bad - they were a little crispy with a nice bit of heat, but overall, I don't think the dish really worked. If I did make it again (which is unlikely), I wouldn't serve the oil from the sauce - I would use a slotted spoon to just get the bits out.

So not only was the meal bad, but I also didn't find the Riesling all that crash hot. It was a Dona Isidora from Argentina and I did find it too sweet. It wasn't crisp like a Sauvignon Blanc or rounded like a Chardonnay. It was somehow fruity in a bad way. I'm not converted. But the hype must be about something, so I probably will try Riesling again.

Anyway, back to the chicken thighs and braised leeks. The original plan was to have the chicken on Saturday and then leftover leeks on Sunday. I decided to go with part B of that plan anyway, particularly since Deb raves about the leeks on their own.

She recommended serving them with all sorts of accompaniments, but we just had some nice ciabatta and butter and it was honestly enough. The leeks were, as advertised, divine. So much flavour for such a simple dish - this one is definitely repeatable.

And then finally, it was time for the chicken. Deb does admit that the recipe involves a lot of faffing - and she isn't exaggerating. So after marinating the chicken overnight with vermouth, onion, chilli and thyme, it is pan-fried until brown and crispy-skinned. The chicken is then slathered in a mixture of sautéed shallots, more vermouth, Dijon mustard, egg, thyme and tarragon. Fresh breadcrumbs mixed with browned butter, thyme and parsley are piled on. The chicken is then baked on top of the braised leeks for about 45 minutes. So yes, it is definitely a lot of mucking around.

Luckily, the dish was delicious. The chicken was amazingly tender but with a crunchy breadcrumb topping for contrast. You could taste the distinct flavours of the vermouth and mustard, which were quite unusual. We already knew the leeks were outstanding, so with the chicken, this was a really good dish. I would have to be reasonably motivated (and much more organised) to make it again, but I'm glad we did it this time - really tasty . . . and even worth the wait!