Chicken with roasted Cabbage..

I saw this recipe on Deb Perelman’s site recently and, as she in her turn had borrowed it from someone else, I thought that it was probably worth a go – proving that sometimes you should go with your instinct!

Put aside all your preconceived notions about Cabbage – (and yes, we’ve all suffered cabbage-related trauma) – Please do try it – this recipe is AMAZING!

Have I convinced you to have a go? Come on then…you can thank me later..

EQUIPMENT:

• A large, oven -proof, shallow frying pan. See NOTES
• a small pot to melt some butter
• A pastry brush
• and yep, that’s about it really.. Oh – and an oven

INGREDIENTS: to feed 4 people

• 1 medium sized head of cabbage – the recipe I followed just asked for an ordinary, everyday head of white cabbage, so that’s what I used
• 1 skin-on Chicken breast per person. See NOTES
• Butter
• Salt and Pepper

METHOD:

• Heat the oven to 200C Fan
• Cut up your Cabbage – it can be quite difficult, so take your time. Cut it in half firstly, remove the core, then turn each half cut-side downwards, and cut into 2-3cms slices.

• Melt a large knob of butter in the pan, swill it round until the base of the pan is covered.
• Fit the slices of cabbage onto the base of the pan in one layer, fitting them together like bits of a jigsaw, cutting them if you need to. Don’t be too precious with this, but get as much cabbage in as you can.

• Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Arrange the chicken portions on top of the cabbage, skin side up.
• Melt a large knob of butter, and paint the chicken and visible cabbage generously with it.

• Season again, then put it into the hot oven for 30 minutes, basting with the rest of the melted butter halfway through. **Be careful – the handle of the frying pan will be very HOT!!**
• After 30 minutes, the chicken will be cooked, so remove it to a plate and keep it warm.
• The cabbage will have wilted somewhat, so gently turn each slice over to brown the other side.

• Return the pan with the cabbage to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes until it has fully softened, and started to char at the edges.
• Serve the cabbage with the chicken breast on top. The buttery Chicken juices will have been absorbed and will have cooked and softened the cabbage.
• I served my Crush-Hot Potatoes with this. They went into the oven at the same time as the chicken, and needed just 10-15 minutes extra at a slightly higher heat (220C Fan) to crisp up nicely. https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/crushed-hot-potatoes/

NOTES:

• Instead of skin-on Chicken breasts, you could use a whole Chicken (that’s too much work for me, being bone idle), or a packet of skin-on Chicken thighs which are not only delicious but economical too. Cooking time would be slightly longer for a whole chicken, and about the same for Chicken thighs.
• Don’t be tempted to cut the cabbage into thin slices – I only managed to use about half of the medium-sized cabbage I had, and we would have eaten the other half too, given half a chance! This white cabbage is great for Coleslaw so it’s never wasted.
• If you don’t have a big enough frying pan, especially if you’re feeding bigger numbers, I would suggest using a large roasting tin. Just pour some melted butter into the tin, spread it around, then place your cabbage and chicken as before.
• I’m going to experiment with different cabbages – one on my favourite cabbages is the ‘Sweetheart’ or as I call it ‘Pointy’ cabbage. I think you could get away with simply cutting young Sweetheart cabbages in two and cooking them cut-side down..