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When I was in the Loire Valley a few months ago, I had lunch at Chateau Nitray, a winery. I wasn't overly impressed by the wines served with the lunch, but I did enjoy the rustically prepared meal of baked chicken thighs and drumsticks, and the accompaniments of roasted potatoes, tomatoes, and onions. Everything seemed to be simply seasoned and cooked in very hot ovens in well-worn baking dishes.
The lunch also included bread (of course), a simple green salad served after the chicken course to cleanse the palate and get it ready for a selection of cheeses. Then slices of custard tarts were served, and coffee was offered (with real cream -- it's France after all!) under a lovely big apple tree outside.
I have recreated this meal in the past, sometimes roasting some asparagus as an additional side, or making a simple green salad of my own using my house vinaigrette and lovely butter lettuce. But I never deviate from the basic chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, and onion foursome. My own take however, is more flavorful than Nitray's, only because I use more herbs and a lot of garlic, among other ingredients.
So the veg. There's the meat and potatoes, and then there's this. It's absolutely necessary to this meal. The tomatoes and onions lend a wonderfully sweet contrast. Here, I prefer to let the natural flavors stand out so I keep the thyme and oregano to a minimum. I left the rosemary out because it can be way overpowering against these wonderfully fresh summer tomatoes and sweet onions.
The last time I cooked this, I had way less of everything so I cooked everything in one pot. The result was delicious but different. I only did it because it was for myself, but if I were to make this meal for company, I would do what I did tonight, which is to cook the vegetables separately from the chicken in case there are vegetarians/vegans. The juices from the vegetables are delicious served over rice.
Ingredients:
Tomatoes, preferably Roma
Onions, preferably Vidalia
A few shakes of dried thyme, but this time I had fresh on hand
A few shakes of oregano
A bay leaf
A pinch or two of sugar to bring out the sweetness but entirely optional, and in this case, turned out to be unncessary
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
I just tossed everything in the pot and put it in a 350F oven at the same time as the chicken. Whenever it's time to take the lid off the chicken and crank up the heat, do the same thing to the veg. Take out once the tomatoes are a bit shriveled and concentrated, and the tips of the onions have a bit of color.
via Vegetarian Food and Recipes! {ALL WELCOME!} Pool http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamburger_helper/42925198594/in/pool-74921284@N00
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