Recipes for Success: Shredded chicken thighs with veg

Recipes for Success is a series of recipes from experts in the food and drink industry. Originally created as a recipe book for new students, alumni chefs, food bloggers and restauranteurs generously share their delicious, easy-to-make recipes. Find out more about our kitchen savvy Cardiff alumni while making something yummy! 

Meet the chef

Jack Stein (BSc 2004, MA 2006) studied Psychology and Ancient History, but followed his passion (and his father, Rick Stein’s footsteps) into the kitchen, as a successful chef director. He’s worked in restaurants across the world and teaches his own cookery course. But he wasn’t always this savvy in the cooking department…

“My memories of cooking as a student – I didn’t do a lot of it, but it inspired me to go back into a professional kitchen when I left. I was genuinely one of those ‘few kebabs a week washed down with beer’ kind of student – and I loved it!”

Let’s get cooking…

Shopping list

Serves 4

6–8 chicken thighs, skin on

1 tablespoon of olive oil

A large pinch of five-spice powder

400g of new potatoes

500g of spring greens (spinach or kale)

25g of butter

Salt and pepper

What you’ll need

Baking tray

Container

Saucepan

Method

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cover the thighs in oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast on a baking tray for 25 minutes until brown. Take them out and leave for 20 minutes.

Step 2

When cooled, pull the chicken apart with a fork and remove the meat from the bone. Season with five-spice powder and set aside. Drain off excess fat but keep the meat juices. The bones can be reused for stock.

Step 3

Place the potatoes, unpeeled, in 1 litre of salted water; bring to the boil, then simmer until they are soft. Drain and set aside.

Step 4

Slice the spring greens into strips. Put a little water in a saucepan. Add the greens and cover. Keep the pan covered for 2–3 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Add the butter and toss the greens to mix it in.

Step 5

Slice the potatoes and place them in the tray with the cooking juices and shredded meat. Put them back in the oven for 5–6 minutes. Serve the chicken and potatoes with a portion of spring greens. Finish with a sprinkle of five-spice powder and salt.

Optional

Feel free to add hot sauce and garlic mayo!

© Jack Stein’s World on a Plate

First published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2018

Our Student Union tester, Hannah Doe (Biomedical Sciences 2018-) SU President, says…

“This is a great recipe to make for friends. While it’s cooking, you can get on with some reading or studying. Be generous with seasoning and enjoy the very little cleaning up at the end.”

Enjoyed this recipe? We’ve got lots more where that came from in Recipes for Success. Dig in!