What Baba Cooked

My easy peasy go to midweek chicken thighs, perfect with rice or mashed potatoes, and even better for lunch the next day. The garlic butter is completely optional despite the title, I’ve also used regular salted butter and also no butter! The real magic is in the seasoning you use for the chicken, and the white wine.

What you need:

• 1 kg chicken thigh fillets
• extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 tsp Italian herbs
• 2 tsp ras el hanout style spice mix
• 1 stick of garlic butter
• Extra drizzle of olive oil
• ½ cup dry white wine
• Fresh continental parsley, finely chopped

What to do:

1. In a large bowl, combine the chicken with some olive oil, half the lemon juice, salt, pepper, Italian herbs, and ras el hanout spice mix. Toss well to coat and marinate for around 30 minutes.
2. Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Melt half the garlic butter with a drizzle of olive oil.
3. Add the chicken and sear until beautifully browned and caramelised on both sides.
4. Add the remaining garlic butter, then pour in the white wine. Stir to lift all the caramelised bits from the bottom of the pan.
5. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the chicken is tender and cooked through and the sauce has slightly reduced.
6. Sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.