Marinated Chook Thighs Cuddled in Bacon - Roasted with Sliced Chorizo.

Memories of a 70's Sunday Sesh: Anderson Style

- by Deirdre Hughes 

My childhood began in the 1970’s. And a lot of my happiest memories of that first decade of life involved food. This recipe has stood the test of time and is a regular feature in our household, especially now that my husband and I eat a mostly animal based diet. It's simply delicious.

When I was a kid, as a treat for the fam, mum offered up a choice of three, rather fancy-pants, signature dishes. These comprised Steak Diane, Chicken Thighs Wrapped (or rather, cuddled) in Bacon and Banana Fritters Dusted with Icing Sugar. Sensational!

My parents' sacred day of R&R was never done by halves. Sundays at home during the '70's and '80's were a culinary extravaganza.

I remember as the air quickly filled with cigarette-smoke (my parents quit smoking many moons ago) rays of late afternoon sunlight could be seen beaming through the large living room window. Mum would emerge from the kitchen, presenting us with a huge wooden Lazy Susan platter, featuring all kinds of meaty goodies with assorted pickled veg. Picture, if you will, cabinossi chunks, smoked kippers and oysters, pickled onions (green and red coloured!), cubed cheese on toothpicks with stuffed green olives, salty nuts and as much peppery salami as the good old Lazy Susan could handle. The bevies of choice to wash it all down were several pints of Guinness (my dad is an Irishman).  

When it turned dark mum could be heard clanking away in the kitchen, prepping dinner. It wasn't long before the bacony aroma would find its way to our nostrils in the next room. More deliciousness was on its way!

And so today I’m bringing you my version of Sue Anderson's Fancy-pants Signature Dish - Menu Item 2:

Just as a heads up. If you can get your hands on pasture raised chook thighs and nitrate free range bacon you're set to experience new levels of tastiness. Not to mention it's a healthier choice. 

I serve it with a dollop of organic Greek yoghurt. The addition of the yoghurt may seem an odd choice but it somehow calms the lovely, spicy saltiness, allowing you to enjoy the beautiful textures even more. Yummo!

This recipe will generously serve two people at 3 thighs each. 

Stuff you will need:

Large baking tray lined with baking paper

Large bowl

Grater

About a dozen toothpicks

Sharp medium sized knife

Large cutting board

An appetite that could salivate for Australia ;) 

Ingredients:

6 pasture raised or organic free range boneless/skinless chicken thighs.

6 full length streaky rashers of bacon - nitrate free, free range

2 quality chorizo snags - cut into slices

Organic Greek Yoghurt

Ingredients for the chicken marinade:

3 tablespoons salted organic butter - melted

3 tablespoons of quality olive oil

2 large garlic cloves - grated to a minced like texture

1 to 1.5 tablespoons of organic Garam Marsala*

Half a tablespoon of quality salt (or to your taste preference) and a generous sprinkle of cracked pepper

How to:

Grab the large bowl and mix up all marinade ingredients into a gritty but almost runny paste

Trim the fatty bits off the thighs. 

If the rashers are rind free, great. Otherwise remove them. 

Throw in the thighs and the sliced chorizo into the marinade mixture and coat them well. Then let them sit for about half an hour at room temp.

When you’re ready to wrap  the chook with the bacon - pre heat the oven at 200 degrees celsius (180 if the oven is fan forced).

Have your workspace prepped before you prep ;-) 

To ease any potential dexterous challenges, I love to ensure everything is in place at arm's length on the benchtop for a seamless go-to-woah. 

Position the lined baking tray to sit adjacent to the cutting board in front of you.

Have the toothpicks laid out so they're easy to pick up (you're are about to get sticky fingers).

Remove the bacon rashers from their packaging, and have them placed on the right of the cutting board, laid out, ready for use.

Have the bowl containing the marinated chook thighs and chorizo slices placed on the left for easy access. 

Lets begin!

Take one rasher of bacon and have it flat in front of you on the cutting board. 

Take a chook thigh and either roll it up or fold it over, then place it at one end of the rasher and, as snuggly as you can, roll it away from you encasing it in the rasher. Hold the rasher in place, grab a toothpick and skewer it through until you see it pierce through to the other side of the thigh. Then place it on the baking tray. Repeat this process with the remaining thighs and rashers. 

Scatter the slices of chorizo amongst the chicken thighs on the baking tray. Avoid placing them on top of the thighs as they may burn.

Cook in the oven for about 35 to 45 mins. They’ll appear lovely and golden when cooked. Slice through the largest thigh to ensure the chicken has cooked through. 

Serve 2 to 3 thighs per person with some chorizo slices. Drizzle over the pan juices. Then blob a tablespoon of the yoghurt on top! Add more cracked pepper if you like. 

I hope you love this as much as we do! Please leave a comment below with any questions and let us know how you go making it! 

*Garam Marsala comes from the Hindu words meaning “hot mixture of spices”. Who knew!