Thyme, oregano and citrus-roasted chicken

Another chicken recipe for you and it's another from Diana Henry as well! After the amazing success of the Roast Chicken With Picada recipe I splurged and bought the book, Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons. The book is a collection of recipes from the middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean, such as Khoresh, a stew from Persia that uses oranges and fruit to flavour it, or how about the unusual but delicious sounding stuffed figs with chocolate.
There are some fantastic pictures in there as well as brilliant ideas, I can't wait to try the orange cake made with whole pureed oranges.
What caught my eye when I first opened the book though was Thyme, oregano and citrus-roasted poussins.The stunning colours in the picture made it jump out and I just had to try it. The recipe is simple to follow and is a bit different to how I normally cook, it does call for Poussins but i used chicken legs it it came out great.
The chicken is marinated in a mixture of orange and lime zest, as well as the juice of four oranges and the lime, mixed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, oregano and thyme. it is then roasted surround by wedges of fresh orange.
When it is cooked it looks absolutely fantastic, it is so bright and cheery, great to serve to guests but easy enough for a weekday dinner.
I served it to my family and it was declared absolutely amazing! it doesn't get much better than that.

The recipe:
A really easy, gloriously aromatic dish that looks stunning.

For the marinade

the rind of 1 orange and 1 lime

the juice of 4 oranges and 1 lime

6 tbsp balsamic vinegar

125ml (4fl oz) olive oil

6 cloves of garlic, crushed

the leaves from 6 sprigs thyme

3 tbsp dried Greek oregano

4 poussins

4 oranges, skin left on, cut into large wedges

a small bunch flat-leaf parsley

Mix all the marinade ingredients together, seasoning with salt and pepper. Put the poussins breast-down into the marinade, cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. Move the birds around every so often so that all sides get a chance to soak in the marinade.

Take the poussins out of the marinade and put them into a roasting tin with the oranges. Drizzle a little extra oil over the oranges and season them. Roast in an oven preheated to 180°C/ 350°F/gas mark 4 for 50 minutes, spooning the marinade over everything as it cooks.

When the poussins are cooked, drain off the pan juices, skim off the fat and slightly reduce the juices in a saucepan by boiling for a few minutes until you have something with the consistency of light gravy.

Serve the poussins surrounded by the orange wedges and parsley leaves, with the juices on the side.