James Strawbridge's Chicken and Asparagus Tray Bake

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

• 8 boneless chicken thighs
• 250ml chicken stock
• 200g British shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 4 shallots, halved
• Large bunch of asparagus, roughly chopped
• Handful of wild garlic, washed and roughly chopped
• 80g pitted kalamata olives
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 2-4 tbsp chopped rosemary
• 1 can of cider
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 50g butter
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper
• Wild garlic salt [optional]

 For the potatoes:

• 1kg potatoes, scrubbed and halved
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp finely chopped wild garlic leaves [optional]
• Salt and pepper to season

Method:

1. Season your chicken thighs generously with cracked black pepper and sea salt and place a garlic clove carefully under the skin of each thigh along with a sprig of rosemary.
2. Prepare your potatoes by scrubbing with a vegetable brush and get on to boil in salted water for 20 mins.
3. Place the chicken thighs skin side down in a large pan with shallots and mushrooms. Drizzle with oil and add butter.
4. Cook the chicken, mushrooms, and shallots for 12-15 mins until the mushrooms brown and the shallots caramelise. Then add in cider to deglaze the pan followed by stock, olives, chopped asparagus and wild garlic.
5. Bring the dish back to a simmer and transfer the entire dish into an ovenable roasting tray and place under a hot grill so that the chicken skin crisps up and the asparagus spears soften. Cook for approximately 5-6 mins under a grill or 8-10 mins in a preheated oven at 200˚C.
6. When the boiled potatoes are cooked, toss in lemon zest, oil and wild garlic. Season to taste.