The Many Permutations of Chicken

Diana Henry’s A Bird in the Hand: Chicken Recipes for Every Day and Every Mood

Like many of you, I find that the daily “dinner dilemma” presents challenges.

Just what is the “dinner dilemma”?

It’s the dull, ongoing, everyday search for tasty-but-easy dinner menus. Dishes that don’t require hours in the kitchen, but taste as if you stood be-aproned and madly stirring a pot of something ambrosial all afternoon.

I first learned of Diana Henry, food writer for The Telegraph, through her book From the Oven to the Table. Of course, hooked as I became on her variation of sheet-pan (cheat-pan?) cookery, I wanted more.

And I found it. I grabbed a cheap, used copy of Simple: Effortless Food, Big Flavors online. And I also discovered Ms. Henry’s James Beard Awards winner, A Bird in the Hand: Chicken Recipes for Every Day and Every Mood.

Ms. Henry’s father raised chickens, so it was only natural that she would gravitate toward recipes for the bird.

And I am glad she did. Chicken is one form of protein that I especially delight in. Not to mention its relatively low cost compared to other meat in the markets these days.

The book arrived on a cold, blustery day. I wasted no time sitting down in my reading chair, covered my legs with a quilt, and dove into a whole new world populated with amazing, scrumptious recipes. The fruits of Ms. Henry’s travels and research, the recipes include spicing techniques from around the globe.

Every recipe seemed to leap at me, clutching me by my shoulders, begging to be tried. I began sticking Post-It notes on pages I wanted to go back to but soon gave up. Every recipe sounded so fabulous, my mouth watered, saliva welling up in the back of my throat. The photographs clinched the deal. I’m surprised I didn’t lick the pages!

Astonishingly enough, the first recipe I tried in A Bird in the Hand called for anchovies. “Chicken with Anchovies, Lemon, and Rosemary.”

Under normal circumstances – pizza being one instance – anchovies and I seldom get on well. But just as I was about to turn the page, I thought of a stew I once made, something Italian if I recall correctly. Anchovies were involved. Just as Ms. Henry says, those little salty, fishy creatures added a depth of flavor, and no anchovy hater would be the wiser as they chewed and swallowed.

She was right.

I heated the oven to 350F, threw the ingredients together, and shoved everything into the oven.

Chicken with Anchovies, Lemon, and Rosemary

Serves four to six

8 large chicken thighs, bone in
8 banana shallots, peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
good pinch chili flakes
5 anchovies, drained of oil and roughly chopped
3 sprigs rosemary
1/3 cup dry white wine
juice and grated zest of ½ lemon

Trim the chicken thighs of any ragged clumps of fat to make them neat. Quarter the shallots lengthwise.

Heat the oil in a shallow ovenproof pan that is large enough to hold the thighs snugly in a single layer. Quickly brown the chicken on both sides over a medium-high heat – you don’t want to cook them through, just get some color. Remove the thighs and put them onto a plate. Pour off all but 1 tbsp of the fat from the pan. Add the shallots to the pan and cook for about three minutes to color these as well, then add three of the garlic cloves, the chili flakes, and the anchovies. Turn the heat right down and cook for a further four minutes or so, pressing the anchovies with the back of a wooden spoon to help them “melt” (they just disintegrate).

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/gas mark 4. Add the rosemary, wine and lemon juice to the pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat. Lay the chicken thighs skin-side up on top of the shallots, adding any juices that have come out of the chicken, and cook uncovered for 25 minutes. [Note: 30- 40 minutes is best.] To check that the chicken is cooked through, pierce one of the pieces near the bone – the juice that runs out should be clear, not pink. Taste for seasoning. The chili and anchovies should provide enough, but just make sure. Chop the reserved garlic with the lemon zest and sprinkle over the top. (Recipe adapted from A Bird in the Hand.)