Orange & Rosemary Marinated Baked Chicken with Spinach Aioli Spaghetti and Baked Spuds

This chicken recipe is an adapted and improved version of my cousins recipe. He prefers to use a whole chicken stuffing it with orange slices and thyme. Since I am not very confident using the whole bird, I opted for chicken pieces and substitute Thyme for Rosemary.

Ingredients: 500 gr Chicken pieces, thighs and breasts work best here, 2 Navel Oranges, Couple sprigs of Rosemary, Rock Salt, Pepper to taste, Olive Oil, Garlic pods, crushed, A good squeeze of Dijon/ honey-mustard (whichever you prefer), 2 tbsp light honey, 1/4 juice of a lemon or 2-3 drops of ready squeezed concentrate lemon juice, 1/2 cup Orange juice, Splash of vinegar

Method: Combine all the wet ingredient in a bowl. Lay the chicken thighs and breasts in a Pyrex oven proof, shallow dish coating them with the marinade before you spread them out and layering the chicken with the orange slices and sprigs of rosemary. Sprinkle the garlic pods around evenly and finally cover with aluminium foil and re-fridgerate, allowing the marinade for minimum 30 mins, but optimum 2 hours.

Then remove from re-fridgerator, pre-heat oven for ten minutes allowing chicken to rest at room temperature before putting into the oven at a medium heat (180'C approx). Bake for 30 - 40 mins until the marinade is absorbed and the meat is moist and tender.

Orange & Rosemary Marinated Chicken

Spinach Aioli Spaghetti tossed with Black Olives

Ingredients: 250 grm Spaghetti, 450 grm Spinach, 3-4 Sprigs Parsley, 3-4 sprigs Mint, 4 fresh Basil leaves, 2 tbsp Olive Oil, 2 pods Garlic, Salt to taste, Sliced Olives to garnish.

Method: Boil the spaghetti. Chop the remaining ingredients before adding to a blender. Pulse until a fine paste is former, adding the olive oil in between to loosen the mixture. Once the spaghetti is boiled, drain and rinse then coat with olive oil, adding a few teaspoons of the aioli mixture at a time, mixing it into well to coat the spaghetti evenly. Toss with sliced olives before serving.

Baked Spuds with Sour-Cream, Spring Onions and Parsley

Ingredients: Large Potatoes (as many as you wish to serve), Butter, Sour cream*, Garlic pods crushed and sliced, Olive Oil, Rock Salt,

*If in India and unavailable, equal parts of regular cream and hung curd mixed together with garlic powder added for taste

Method: Wash and dry the potatoes completely. Slice a big, deep cross into the top of each potato and then place in a glass Pyrex dish standing upward with the slashes. Sprinkle generously with olive oil, garlic and rock salt and if you wish with aromatic herbs that you would like to infuse your potatoes with. Cover the dish with aluminium foil and bake in a moderate to hot oven (200'C) for an hour to hour and half, checking for the skin to get golden and crisp. As soon as the potatoes are ready, scoop put about a teaspoon and a half of potato filling from the centre of the cross cut into the top and then smother with a little butter, following which a dollop of sour cream should be plopped into the centre and then dressed with spring onions and parsley.