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Thursday, May 26, 2011

- Dinner tonight -

Being the end of autumn there isn't much selection in my garden..although this afternoon I managed to harvest the tiniest baby beetroots, a few baby leeks and spinach.  I will confess to swiping my best friends brocolini out of her garden next to me!  Don't worry I'll pay her back with some red onions or something..



Spinach and leek stuffed chicken legs with baby beetroot, brocolini and golden sweet potato

4 free range chicken legs
sea salt and black pepper
2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
4 large handfuls of spinach, blanched and refreshed in iced water then squeezed dry
150g feta cheese
2 baby leeks, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

8 baby beetroot, washed with 2-3 cm of stem left attached
8 stems brocolini, blanched and refreshed in iced water
4 golden sweet potato, chopped into chunks
leaves from the beetroot

4 tbsp balsmaic vinegar
2 mandarins, juiced
2 tsp dijon mustard
8 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and black pepper

To make the stuffing; gently saute leeks and garlic until soft and golden.  Meanwhile blanch your spinach then finely chop.  Crumble feta into a bowl, add cool spinach, leeks, garlic and sea salt and pepper.  Mix together well and set aside.

For the chicken, gently loosen skin from flesh all over the thigh bone.  You can remove thigh bone if you wish but I'm a mother of two not a chef!   Squash stuffing into a ball in your hands and shove under the skin, smoothing it down over the leg bone and meat.  You don't really need to secure the skin with toothpicks just push the skin back down over the thigh meat as much as you can.  Season with salt, pepper and cumin.

Roast sweet potato and chicken legs in a hot oven (200 degrees) for 30 minutes, adding baby beetroot for the last 10 minutes.

To make dressing;  whisk all ingredients together or shake in a jar.

When everything is cooked and your beetroot is nice and crispy, mix with dressing, beetroot leaves and brocolini.  Serve immediately.

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