Jamie Oliver's Chicken - Simple Food, just the way I like it!

Jamie Oliver cooks simple food, period! I am sure at his restaurants he will dolly up the plates, 'cause that is the cheffie thing to do, but what I love about Jamie, is that he has made home cooking popular again. I dare anybody to sit and watch a Jamie programme and  not get inspired to the point where you just want to get up and start cooking something.......

For me, Jamie has come a long way. In the beginning of BBC Food and similar programmes, I thought he was  a bit of a big mouth, but I think he has matured into an icon in the food world and in my opinion he will still be influential for many more years to come. Part of his success, is that he has never lost touch with the man on the street. He will cook with anybody, eat with anybody and I know it is all to make a good programme, but you can only fake enjoying that for so long. Anyway, by now you should know that I am a Jamie Oliver fan! I have made many of his recipes and have yet to find one that does not work.

I have made his Picnic Bread and another one of his Chicken Casseroles and both these recipes are still popular in my house!

His series, Jamie At Home, to me is his best work ever. The format of the programme and his innovative use of ingredients are just awe-inspiring. Not to mention the garden he cooks from and sometimes in... I have watched it over and over again and every time I learn something new.  This easy Chicken recipe is a perfect example of how Jamie can take the humblest of ingredients and come up with something so tasty and spectacular.

As you all know by now, I have had to make some changes to my lifestyle due to a slight medical hick up and one of the changes I had to make was to cut down on spicy food! Gosh, what a tall order. I hate bland food, I might as well not eat it! When I saw this recipe, I knew it could work for me, because herbs is so good to up flavor in food without the "bad" spices.

Jamie's Chicken - adapted my me



8 Chicken Pieces

1 small punnet cocktail tomatoes

fresh oregano

2 cloves of garlic

olive oil

salt/pepper

lemon zest





Preheat oven to 180 C. Use a pestle and mortar  and bash the garlic until it becomes a puree. Add a big handful or fresh oregano and bash until the oregano is completely fine. Add the lemon zest and a few glugs of olive oil and mix to make a lovely fragrant oil. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and place in a oven proof casserole. Pour the fragrant oil over the top and toss and turn the chicken to coat with the oil. Make a small crisscross with a sharp knife on each tomato. Place all the tomatoes in a small bowl and pour over some boiling water. Leave for about 2 minutes. The skins of the tomatoes will come off easily. Pop the tomatoes in and about the chicken and bake uncovered for about 1 hour.





Serve with creamy mashed potatoes or polenta and a side salad. The fragrant oil also works for fish and pork.

Other bits and bobs..



-For those of you who voted for my recipe in the Fairview Bloggers Competition, thank you so much! My recipe was one of the Top 3 that will now be cooked by the chefs in the Goatshed at Fairview and the winner will be announced on the 27th August. The other recipes are from Add to Taste and The Squashed Tomato.