I had kept the pan juices from the Portugese Chicken that I made last night because I didn’t want to waste those lovely flavours. I took it out of the fridge, scraped the layer of fat off the top, and was left with the bottom layer – flavoursome jelly-like stuff. I’m going to use this instead of olive oil to make the tomato sauce for my eggplant bake. It should add a nice flavour.Firstly, I sliced up a whole eggplant into approximately one centimetre thick slices and panfried these in the pan with a little olive oil just to soften them up. Now, to make the sauce.
- Sautee some onion and crushed garlic in olive oil. **
- Add any fresh herbs you like – I used fresh thyme and chopped basil from my herb garden.
- Add a can of whole/diced tomatoes. ***
- Add a splash of white wine and allow the sauce to simmer on low heat until it reduces and thickens.
- Add crushed sea salt and cracked pepper to season.
**As mentioned above, I used the leftover pan juices from last night’s chicken.
*** If you use whole tomatoes, break the tomatoes up as they cook (they will soften). You can use fresh tomatoes, but you may have to add some tomato paste.
Now, once the sauce is done, you layer the eggplant and the sauce in a baking dish. I also used some crumbed feta inbetween layers. You could use tasty chase or even mozzarella for a really cheesy dish. Begin with a layer of eggplant and finish with a layer of the tomato sauce and a sprinkle of cheese. Bake in the oven for about half an hour at 180C – or until the cheese melts and starts to brown.
While the eggplant bake was in the oven, I quickly put together some chicken for Jocelyn’s dinner. I had asked for thigh fillets at the shops but when I unwrapped my package, I found they’d given me the thigh fillets with the bone. Jocelyn doesn’t like to eat meat with bones. She’s too lazy for that! Oh well, tough. I made a few slits across each piece and rubbed some – you guessed it! - Portugese Chicken seasoning over the top of the thighs. I placed a few slices of fresh lemon on the tray and positioned a thigh fillet ontop, trying to roll the sides in to give it a ‘roll’ form. Into the oven to bake at 180C for about forty minutes. May take less time, depending on the size of your thighs. Erm, your chicken thighs, that is.
The eggplant bake was soon ready. I dished it up, packing it up for lunch at work tomorrow.
Portugese & Lemon Chicken Thigh Cutlet
with a side of fresh salad
With her meal out of the way, it was time to turn my attentions to what I was going to have for dinner.
Porterhouse with Creamy Mushroom & Chilli Sauce
Love this photo! I thought I’d spruce it up with several strands of chives and a few sundried tomatoes – HOMEMADE BY ME!
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