The combination of chicken, cider, bacon and orange is unusual. It is a mixture of flavours I love, and this is a recipe that always goes down well in the cookery school. I am counting the days until we can open again; I really miss it.

Chicken thighs are great value. I always keep some in the freezer and I always buy Bord Bia Quality Assured. I use Stonewell Cider, which is made in Carrigaline, Co Cork. Instead of sweet potatoes, you might like to try pumpkin or butternut squash.

The roast chicken recipe is also full of flavour. Chicken can absorb a lot of different flavours and ingredients. I recently coated a roast chicken with harissa and lemon and it was delicious. The sausage makes a simple, flavourful stuffing. If you like this recipe you could think of it as a practice run for the turkey at Christmas.

Happy cooking,

Neven

Neven Maguire’s latest cookbook Midweek Meals is out now, published by Gill Books.

Recipes

Chicken thighs braised in cider with sweet potatoes

Chicken thighs braised in cider with sweet potatoes. \ Photography: Philip Doyle.

Food styling: Janine Kennedy

Serves six to eight

12 rindless streaky bacon rashers

12 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

3 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 onions, cut into wedges

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

2 garlic cloves, crushed

275g flat mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp redcurrant jelly

finely grated rind of 1 orange

1 bay leaf

450ml chicken stock

120ml dry cider

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tbsp toasted flaked almonds

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

creamy mashed potatoes, to serve

  • 1 Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/gas mark 6).
  • 2 Stretch each rasher with the back of a table knife and then wrap it around a chicken thigh.
  • 3 Heat the oil in a large casserole dish with a lid and cook the wrapped chicken thighs in batches until lightly browned all over. Arrange on a plate and set aside.
  • 4 Reduce the heat, then add the onions and sweet potatoes. Sauté for five minutes, until golden.
  • 5 Add the garlic and cook for one minute, stirring to prevent it from sticking.
  • 6 Add the mushrooms, redcurrant jelly, orange rind and bay leaf then pour in the stock and cider.
  • 7 Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, return the chicken to the casserole and stir in the thyme.
  • 8 Cover and cook for one hour, or until the chicken is completely tender and the sauce has thickened slightly. Season to taste and stir in the parsley.
  • 9 To serve, sprinkle the casserole with the flaked almonds, then place directly on the table with a large bowl of creamy mashed potatoes to mop up all those delicious juices.

    • Fragrant roast chicken with sausage stuffing

    Serves four to six

    1.5kg whole chicken

    1 lemon

    1 fresh thyme sprig

    75g butter, softened

    2 garlic cloves, crushed

    4 small carrots, peeled

    2 red onions, peeled and halved

    2 celery sticks, chopped in half

    1 leek, chopped in half

    1 garlic bulb, broken into cloves (but not peeled)

    3 tbsp olive oil

    For the gravy:

    1 tbsp plain flour

    120ml white wine

    300ml chicken stock

    sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

    For the sausage stuffing roll:

    25g butter, extra for greasing

    1 onion, finely chopped

    100g sausage meat

    100g fresh white breadcrumbs

    2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs, such as flat-leaf parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

    To serve:

    crispy roast potatoes, to serve

    buttered peas, to serve

  • 1 Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat the oven to 230°C (450°F/gas mark 8).
  • 2 Finely grate the rind from the lemon and place the rind in a bowl, reserving the lemon. Strip the thyme leaves from the stalks (reserve the stalks) and add to the lemon rind. Mix in the butter and garlic and then season to taste.
  • 3 Loosen the skin from the chicken breasts, starting at the cavity end and working your hand underneath to release it. Spread the butter evenly under the skin and lay the skin back down on top.
  • 4 Slash the chicken legs several times with a sharp knife (this is to help ensure crispy skin).
  • 5 Place the carrots in a roasting tin with the red onions, celery, leek and garlic, tossing to coat in one tablespoon of olive oil.
  • 6 Sit the chicken on top of the pile of vegetables and drizzle all over with the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil, then season well, rubbing it all over and right into the slashes.
  • 7 Cut the reserved lemon in half and put it inside the chicken’s cavity with the reserved thyme stalks. Place the chicken in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 200°C (400°F/gas mark 6).
  • 8 Roast the chicken for 1 hour 20 minutes, basting the chicken halfway through cooking.
  • 9 Meanwhile, to make the sausage stuffing roll, melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the onion until softened.
  • 10 Leave to cool, then mix with the sausage meat, breadcrumbs and herbs and season with salt and pepper.
  • 11 Place on a heavily buttered double sheet of tin foil and roll up into a thick sausage shape about 2.5cm (1in) thick and 20cm (8in) long, twisting the ends to secure.
  • 12 Place in a roasting tin and cook above the chicken for 25-30 minutes, until the sausage meat is cooked through, turning it a couple of times to ensure it cooks evenly.
  • 13 When the chicken is cooked, transfer the chicken to a board and put the carrots and red onions on a warmed plate. Cover each with tin foil and rest for 15 minutes while you make the gravy.
  • 14 Using a large spoon, carefully remove most of the fat from the tin and then place the tin directly on the heat. Stir in the flour and then holding the tin steady, mash up the remaining vegetables as much as possible with a potato masher.
  • 15 Pour in the wine and allow it to bubble down, stirring continuously to blend the flour in. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until slightly reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally.
  • 16 Take a large jug and set a sieve into it, then pour in the gravy mixture, using a ladle to push all of the liquid and some of the vegetables through with the back of the spoon.
  • 17 Stir in the juices from the resting chicken and season to taste. Transfer to a warmed gravy boat.
  • 18 To serve, carve the chicken into slices and arrange on warmed serving plates with the reserved carrots and red onion halves. Unwrap the sausage stuffing roll and cut into slices, then add to the plates with the roast potatoes and buttered peas. Hand around the gravy boat separately.