Irish Chicken and Red Candy

My sister made this recipe that she found on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago and put a picture of it on her facebook page. It looked so good that I immediately wanted to try it myself.   We love cabbage and potatoes in this house and the recipe incorporated both of those along with some onions, chicken pieces and bacon!  If it's got bacon you just know it's going to be good!




My sister discovered the recipe on Jo and Sue, and they had found it in an old cookbook of their mum's.  In any case, once I saw my sisters photo, I was drooling intrigued and thought it was something which I just had to make.  It seemed to be simple and was filled with things we both like to eat.  You know me . . .  a bit lazy.  Simple works well for me.

 

First you joint a chicken and then shake the chicken in a seasoning mix.  You brown some bacon in a pan and once that's done you scoop the bacon out and then brown the chicken in the bacon drippings.   You scoop that out,  and then you saute the cabbage and some onion in those same drippings.



Finally some new potatoes and stock are added. ( I cooked them through for a bit)   The whole mess gets dumped into a shallow casserole dish, the chicken nestled in amongst the veg.  The dish is covered and baked in a preheated oven until the chicken and vegetables are both deliciously tender.

 

You know me . . .  I can't leave well enough alone and so I scattered a good handful of grated cheese over top and let it melt down into the vegetables and juices.  Oh boy was it ever good!  We both really enjoyed this and it's a dish I will make again.



The chicken was tender and flavourful . . .  and the vegetables moist and delicious . . . with a slight smokiness from the bacon and that cheese  . . .  oh baby.  Just the perfect finishing touch.   You will want to serve some crusty bread with this to sop up all of those scrumptious pan juices.  This is what you call a winner!

*Irish Chicken*

Serves 4
Printable Recipe

An adaption from The Irish Cooking cookbook.  Simple and delicious.   The cheese is my idea . . .  because cheese makes even good things taste better.

For the chicken seasoning:

1 tsp onion powder

3 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp sweet paprika

salt and pepper to taste

You will also need:

1 whole chicken cut into pieces

6 slices of thick cut bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 medium head of cabbage, trimmed, cored and chopped

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

60ml chicken stock (1/4 cup)

small bag of new potatoes, quartered (about 3 cups)

A handful of strong cheddar cheese ( optional)

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/gas mark 5.  Have ready a large shallow casserole dish.

Mix together all of the chicken seasoning ingredients.  Place them into a large food quality plastic bag.  Shake the chicken pieces in this to coat.   Set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Fry the bacon in this, until crisp.  Scoop out with a slotted spoon onto paper kitchen toweling to drain.  If there is a lot of bacon grease in the pan, drain off half of it.  You only want about a tablespoon of fat.  Brown the chicken on all sides  in the bacon drippings.  Remove to a plate and set aside.


Add the chopped cabbage and onion to the pan along with the Chicken stock.  Cook and stir together for five to 10 minutes until well wilted.  Stir in the potatoes.  Pour the whole lot into the casserole dish.   Scatter the bacon pieces over top and then place the chicken on top.

Roast in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, until the chicken is tender and the juices run clear and the potatoes are cooked.    Throw a handful of cheese on top.  Return to oven to melt the cheese.   Serve hot.



You could of course use ready cut chicken pieces, but I like to cut up my own chicken for these types of dishes . . . a chore that was made a lot easier with these lovely Kitchen Aid All-Purpose Kitchen Shears which were sent to me from Red Candy.



With sharp stainless steel blades, these kitchen shears are comfortable and easy to use.  They are especially heavy-duty and capable of performing a variety of kitchen duties from snipping herbs to cutting apart chickens and everything in between.  They are dishwasher safe and come with a handy plastic blade guard, as well as a one year hassle-free replacement and lifetime limited warranty! You can't ask for better than that.   You can find out more about them here.   They're actually on sale at the moment.  I love the red handles.   I love red.



Another tool which I used to grate the cheese for this with and which I have generally been using and enjoying for a couple of weeks now is the Kitchen Aid Box Grater.   An essential for any kitchen, this red-accented Kitchen Aid Box Grater is perfect for grating all manner of veggies and cheeses.

Also crafted from stainless steel, this box grater is an investment that is also dishwasher safe. This super sleek KitchenAid Box Cheese Grater will help you prep your food and cover your pasta with cheese in style.

 

This designer cheese grater also features a 3 cup removable base for capturing all that lovely edible goodness, with minimal mess.   Strong stainless steel, minimal downward effort for grating and slicing foo, it features four blades . . .  slicing, fine grate,  medium grate and coarse grate.   Dishwasher safe, the additional container is also microwave, freezer and dish washer safe.  You can find out more about it here.   This handy item is also on sale at the moment.

I just love the kitchen aid products.   They are quality and reliable and I love the red colour accents.   I have been using these two items just about every day here in my kitchen and I have to say I am very pleased with how they perform.   Many thanks to Red Candy for sending them to me.

 If you are looking for something for the home or kitchen,  I would highly recommend Red Candy.  They don't only deal in kitchenality . . .  they have everything on their site from photo frames to kettles, wall decor and clocks.   In short there is something for just about any taste and at pretty decent prices, with good service and quick delivery times.   Red Candy has The English Kitchen Two Thumbs Up Vote of Approval.

Note - although I was sent these two items free for review, I was not required to write a positive review of either the items or the service.