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Thank you, dear reader
I wanted to start this newsletter off with a huge hug and thank you to you all. For so many reasons - not just for clicking subscribe in the first place (that was important), but for the immense and overwhelming support I’ve received since launching a standing reservation. This newsletter pulled me out of some dark times (literally there was a lack of sunshine in England when I launched this newsletter) and you, in fact, brought me back to life. With your love for the recipes, pictures of dishes YOU made after reading the newsletter, comments and messages urging me to keep going, keep writing. The support I feel from this community is really something special. So, thank you for keeping this newsletter alive with me. It means the world.
I will say, I’m at a loss for words at just how much this newsletter has grown. We started at 5 subscribers (shout out to my day ones) and now we’re at 295 subscribers…I truly cannot believe it. This journey reignited my love for writing and sharing my words with someone other than the 20+ journals that sit stacked on my bedside table. I feel that we’ve grown this newsletter together, like we’ve dreamed up recipes and happy moments, workshopped new ideas and fought some personal battles (my sincerest apologies to everyone who was personally affected by the great visa saga of 2023 - ha!). The reason I say this is because, week after week you’ve interacted, shared the newsletter with a friend, cooked one of my recipes for a family member, and simply put, you’ve read it. So, from the bottom of my heart and my kitchen, a big thank you for booking your reservation with me.
Fall
Fall has arrived here in London. The air is crisp when I wake up and by the time I go to sleep, I wrap myself in a big duvet. I never leave the flat without a jacket and I’ve upped my daily tea intake to about 3-4 teas a day, if not to drink than only for something warm to hold. Fall makes me feel a lot of things. It reminds me that soon I’ll be another year older. That I must not forget to watch When Harry Met Sally at exactly the right time - which is when the leaves begin to change. That I own a puffer vest, of which, I conveniently never wear until I say, “I wish I wore this in the fall”. That it’s now acceptable to slow roast meats and make my weekly Sunday broth. Fall reminds me of crunching leaves and spooky things like carving pumpkins and Hocus Pocus (how very basic of me, but I do admit, the nostalgia of it all makes me happy and if something makes you happy, I say go for it!).
Fall for me means roasting. Roasted root vegetables and roasted meats being the core of many warming fall dishes. In fact, it just so happens I moved to the land of “roasts”. I guess you could say that roasts most certainly became a thing for me since moving to this island. While I do love a British Sunday roast, I find many of them to be tired. Maybe even bored of themselves? The same roast beef, roast chicken, gravy, boiled and then baked veg (the potatoes on the other hand…I’ll take British roasted potatoes any day…oh and a Yorkshire pudding, love a Yorkshire pudding). I’m not knocking a Sunday roast, don’t get me wrong - I’m an advocate and an ally - but, sometimes you have to steer away from the classics and jazz it up a bit. I’m here to help you add a little flare into your Sunday “roast”. This recipe also makes for a great weeknight dinner or heck, even lunch! Let’s get to it.
Lemon-thyme roast chicken with a preserved lemon and tahini yogurt
I came up with this recipe while I was creating a menu for an office lunch catering job. It hits all the things you want out of a roast chicken and then adds the elements of a dipping sauce. Who doesn’t love a dipping sauce, am I right?
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
Roasted lemon chicken
6 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
1 preserved lemons, roughly chopped
50g of butter
Salt and pepper to season
2 Tbsps fresh thyme
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
Zest of 1 lemon + 1 Tbsp of lemon juice
Optional: garnish with parsley leaves tossed in EVOO
Preserved lemon & tahini yogurt sauce
1 cup of Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp of tahini
1 preserved lemon
A squeeze of lemon juice to loosen the dip
Roasting liquid as needed*
Method
Preheat your oven to 220C/425F. In the bowl of a food processor or mixing by hand, add chopped preserved lemon, butter, thyme, garlic, lemon zest and juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Blitz until you have a consistent paste.
Line a tall baking pan with parchment paper and add your chicken thighs, skin facing up. Blot the chicken dry with kitchen towel and season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Massage the skin of the chicken with the lemon-butter. Cut the remaining preserved lemon (for the yogurt sauce) in half and in half again - add to your roasting tray scattered around the chicken. Roast for about 25-30 minutes or until the skin of the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear.
Remove the larger pieces of roasted preserved lemon from the roasting tray and roughly chop. In a bowl, add roasted lemon, greek yogurt, a squeeze of lemon juice and tahini. Stir to incorporate. *If the mixture feels to thick, try spooning some of the roasting liquid into the yogurt - not only will this add another level of flavor, but it will help give your yogurt sauce a nice glossy finish. Enjoy!
Until next time at a standing reservation…
With love & snacks,
Paige
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Need a happy moment?
I usually take a long walk along the River Thames. It clears my head and being close to water always makes me happy. There’s a footpath along the Thames that is not paved and lined with trees, wild flowers, plants, and lots of dogs running in and out of the water. It’s become a remedy to city living that now feels essential to my daily routine. Today I found this beautiful bunch of wildflowers and I couldn’t resist taking them home to admire them some more. What’s your daily remedy?