ROAST CHICKEN, WITH ARTICHOKES, CHORIZO AND RICE

A little different to the normal Irish roast chicken dinner, this is more of a Mediterranean taste and will set your tastebuds off!

Ingredients

Whole Organic (if possible) free-range chicken (jointed into 8 pieces, your butcher will do this for you if you don’t want to do it yourself). Keep the skin on.
300g organic artichokes in oil (You can get these in most good health shops or delis) (Drain the oil and use it for salads or cooking for extra taste!)
1 onion
3 cloves garlic crushed
150g good quality raw chorizo sausage, peeled and diced
350g brown rice
150ml dry white wine (get a nice one so you can enjoy the remainder with dinner!)
600ml chicken stock ( I make my own using the carcass of the chicken I’ve jointed however you can get really good chicken stock from local suppliers or delis)
200g spinach leaves
Fresh thyme (remove leaves from stalks)
Fresh parsley (chopped)
Sea salt and cracked pepper for seasoning

Method

To begin with brine your chicken, this step is not necessary but it definitely makes the chicken moist when cooking. I do mine for about 5 or 6 hours prior to jointing. If you get your chicken already jointed look up timings on brining as they differ. As I say, this is not necessary for this dish but its a preference for me when I cook with poultry
Preheat oven at 160°C
In your casserole dish use some a tablespoon of the oil from the artichokes on medium heat.
Place in chicken skin side down and brown on each side for a few minutes
Remove chicken from pan to a bowl and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of artichoke oil to the pan
Tip in chopped chorizo, onion and garlic and saute for 4 or 5 min.
Add in brown rice and thyme leaves and mix through for a minute or two until all grains are fully coated
Add in wine and stock and fold in artichokes. Place chicken back in pushing down into the rice.