Mum’s marmalade roast chicken thighs

I’ve been thinking long and hard about what to get mum for Mother’s Day. It’s a hard one because she pretty much has everything and it seems silly buying her a pointless gift. So this year I’m going to spoil her with a day of her favourite food!

We’re going to start early with boiled eggs and soldiers (she loves the simple things in life does this northern lass) and then for lunch it’s going to be her absolute favourite, marmalade roast chicken thighs. We grew up on this as kids and it was mum who got me to appreciate the glories of the chicken thigh. They are such a succulent part of the chicken and will take quite a bit of roasting – in fact the longer and slower you can cook them the better, and they are also the cheapest part of the bird so you can go wild and serve loads.

This particular way of roasting them is very much my mum. She adores marmalade and has always experimented in the kitchen, in fact her love of cooking and trying out new recipes is really what inspired me to cook. This is such an easy dish and is packed with wonderful citrusy flavour. The thighs are lovely served on a bed of mash or rice or even with a jewelled couscous. You need to find a good quality bitter marmalade with ‘bits’ as the caramelised orange mixed with the roasted juicy onion just taste so vivid and melt-in-the-mouth!

METHOD
Pre-heat the oven to 190C.

In a large bowl mix the marmalade, mustard and orange juice and season well with salt and pepper, then add the chicken thighs and rub them all over with the marmalade mix.

Place the red onion and orange quarters in a large baking tray and place the chicken thighs on top, skin side up and then drizzle with olive oil. Cover tightly with foil.

Roast for 60 min at 190C then remove the foil and turn the thighs over. Turn the heat down to 160C and roast for 30 min, then turn the chicken back over so that it’s skin up and turn the oven back up to 190C and roast for a final 15–20 min until the chicken is dark and crispy and the juices run clear when you prick the thigh with a fork.
Eat and of course, enjoy!

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