Chicken with Five-Spice Sauce

Roast Chicken legs with Five-Spice Sauce

The darker meat of a chicken in my opinion is the tastier meat, in this recipe I leave the skin on as it crisps up really well in the oven and is mouth-watering; now if you want to go healthier just simply remove the skin before cooking. Alternatively this recipe can be done with a full chicken that has been jointed. Jointing a chicken is something you can practice yourself or simply ask your butcher to do for you.

There is a little bit of work involved in the sauce although I feel it is worth it, it has a beautiful flavour and creamy texture plus it fills the room with its wonderful aroma.

Serves 4:

4 chicken legs-jointed

1 teaspoon of Chinese five-spice

Sea salt and black pepper

1 lemon

1 bulb of garlic

A few sprigs of thyme

For the sauce:

1 small onion

1 medium carrot

6-7 cherry tomatoes

The wings of the chicken

1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil

50ml of white wine vinegar

400ml of chicken stock

A bouquet of tied herbs

100ml of double cream

1 teaspoon of Chinese five-spice

Method

Preheat the oven at full temperature. Carefully joint the chicken legs with a large heavy, sharp knife at the joint to make a drumstick and a thigh. In a suitable sized oven dish place the chicken pieces and sprinkle lightly with Chinese five-spice, salt and pepper. Quarter or slice the lemon and add to the dish with the cloves of garlic and sprigs of thyme. Place in the oven and keep at full temperature for ten minutes then turn down to 200°c for 50 minutes.

 To make the sauce: chop the onion, carrot and cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

Put a saucepan onto a hot hob and add the oil, add onion and carrot to the saucepan and sweat for 2 minutes then remove from the heat and add the vinegar and leave for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes and the bouquet of herbs and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a steady simmer.

Remove from the heat when the sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Add the cream and five-spice and put back onto the heat and gently bubble for a few mins. Serve right away or keep warm in a bain-marie.