Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake

Jersey Royals nestled with spicy chorizo, juicy chicken, vine tomatoes and leeks, roasted with garlic and topped with thyme. This Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake makes its own lovely sauce!

Sometimes, often in fact, I don’t have a recipe in mind when I go into the kitchen to make a meal. I start opening drawers in the refrigerator and browsing my pantry for inspiration. This meal was one of those. 

I had some spicy chorizo I had been wanting to use and a leek that was getting just a little dried out on top. And the rest just sort of fell together in my big roasting pan. 

I have since made it again because it was so good! The oils that render as the chicken thighs and chorizo roast, along with the tomato juice make the most wonderful basting liquid! 

Jersey Royal Chorizo Chicken Traybake

Traybake in the UK, sheet pan dinner in the US. Whatever we call them, everyone loves just one cooking vessel to wash up! If you don’t have Royals or baby new potatoes, you can use larger waxy potatoes like Yukon Golds (US) or Charlottes (UK). Peel them and cut them into chunks. 

Ingredients

8 oz or 225g Spanish chorizo

1 fat leek, tender green and white parts only, trimmed weight 136g

4 skin-on, bone in chicken thighs, cut in half (approx. weight 1 lb 10 oz or 750g)

3 cloves garlic

6 (ripened on the vine, if possible) cherry tomatoes

1.1 lb or 500g Jersey Royals or baby new potatoes

olive oil for drizzling and greasing the pan

fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

Method

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and prepare your roasting pan by drizzling it with a little olive oil. 

Peel the casing off of the chorizo and discard. Cut the chorizo into chunks.

Trim the hard green part and the root end off of your leek and discard, Cut the rest into chunks. Slice the garlic cloves thinly.

Use a meat cleaver or poultry scissors to cut each chicken thigh in half, through the bone. Put the chicken pieces skin side up in the prepared pan. 

Distribute the leek and potatoes around the chicken. Halve the tomatoes and tuck them in too. Sprinkle the whole thing with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Now add in the chorizo and scatter the sliced garlic on top. 

Give everything another drizzle of olive oil and bake in your preheated oven for about 40 minutes, basting occasionally.

Add in the sprigs of thyme and bast again. 

Bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 3rd edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter C. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the C recipes below:

• Sneha’s Recipe: Chettinad Mushroom Masala
• Food Lust People Love: Chicken Chorizo Traybake
• Blogghetti: Captain Crunch French Toast
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Chickpea Chaat Salad
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Hot Chocolate Cookies
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Cider Glazed Chicken Wings
• Magical Ingredients: Cheesy Corn Dip
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Chia Seed Protein Bites
• A Messy Kitchen: Cappuccino Mousse
• Culinary Cam: Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Cheesy Cheddar Taco-Seasoned Corn Chip Dip

Here are my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

C. Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake – this post!

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Blood Orange Yogurt Muffins - Small Batch #MuffinMonday

These blood orange yogurt muffins are light and tender, full of flavor from the zest and juice of my favorite seasonal citrus, blood oranges.

It’s citrus season in the northern hemisphere and a variety of choices abound, from navels to tangerines, cara cara oranges and even pomelos, but until this week, nary a blood orange. 

I am a huge fan of store apps because they allow me to check prices and make my shopping list based on availability and best value. One finally came through for me when blood oranges showed up and, bonus, with a digital coupon! 

Blood Orange Yogurt Muffins

If you don’t have blood oranges, by all means make these muffins with whatever oranges, tangerines, etc. that you do have. 

Ingredients

For 6 muffins:

Grated zest and juice of 1 blood orange (about 2 tablespoons)

1/3 cup or 66g sugar

1 cup or 125g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Good pinch salt

1/3 cup or 81g Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons milk

1 large egg, at room temperature

1/4 cup or 57g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing the pan

Optional topping:

2 tablespoons pearl sugar

2 teaspoons blood orange juice

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Prepare your 6-cup muffin pan by buttering it or line it with paper liners.

Measure your sugar into a large mixing bowl. Zest your orange into the sugar then use a spoon to press the zest into the sugar to release the fragrant orange oil.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk to combine.

Juice your orange.  

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the juice, yogurt, milk, egg and melted butter. Whisk till well combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones.

Fold until just mixed through.

Divide the mixture between the muffin cups in your prepared pan.

I was trying to get a little of the blood orange color on the tops of the muffins so I quickly stirred 2 tablespoons of pearl sugar with 2 teaspoons blood orange juice and divided the pink sugar between the muffins. As you can see from the photos, the pink didn’t really show up but the pearl sugar does make a nice crunchy topping so, no regrets. 

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden. 

Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes then remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Enjoy! 

It’s the last Monday of the month, which means it’s Muffin Monday time! Check out all the lovely muffins my blogger friends are sharing today!

• Blood Orange Yogurt Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Dried Cherry Oatmeal Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Sourdough Cornbread Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spiced Cocoa Muffins from A Messy Kitchen

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Homemade Golden Mushroom Soup

So much better than the canned stuff from Campbell’s, this homemade golden mushroom soup is made with loads of mushrooms, beef stock, milk and a touch of tomato.

When I was growing up, my mom never failed to have a few cans of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup in the cupboard because it was so useful in a lot of recipes back then. The hey-day of casseroles. But we also just loved opening a can, diluting it with milk and sipping it nice and hot out of a big mug. 

It wasn’t until I was much, much older and doing my own shopping that I discovered their golden mushroom soup which, in my opinion is much richer in flavor since it’s made with beef stock. Whether I’d have liked it as a child, who can tell? 

The sherry I add in at the end is optional but I discovered what a huge improvement in flavor it gave when I first made Anthony Bourdain’s mushroom soup. It’s only 1 tablespoon in the whole pan but the sherry lifts the soup into gourmet territory. It’s that good. Try adding it and see if you agree! 

Homemade Golden Mushroom Soup

This soup is easily made gluten and dairy free by using a gluten free flour mix, non-dairy butter and almond milk. A good friend of mine uses those to make regular cream of mushroom soup for her grandbabies and they love it!

Ingredients

1.5 lb or 680g baby bella or swiss brown mushrooms

1/4 cup or 57g butter or dairy free butter

2 cloves garlic 

1 medium onion (approx. weight 5 3/4 oz or 163g)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

3/4 cup or 96g all-purpose flour or gluten free flour mix

4 cups or 960ml beef stock

2 cups or 480ml milk (I use 2%/semi-skimmed) or almond milk

Fine sea salt

1 tablespoon sherry, optional

Optional for garnish:

Reserved small mushrooms, from amount for soup (see note in Method below)

Drizzle olive oil

Chopped parsley

Method

Puree the garlic and onion in a small food processor. Set aside. 

This step is optional: Set aside and slice a few small mushrooms to pan fry and use as garnish.

Trim any hard stem ends off of the mushrooms and discard. Chop the rest of the mushrooms into small pieces. 

In large saucepan, sauté the chopped mushrooms in the butter over a medium high heat until they have released their liquid, it has evaporated and the mushrooms have turned a lovely golden brown. 

Add in the pureed onion/garlic and the tomato paste. Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the onion is cooked. A good indication is when the onion aroma has turned mellow instead of sharp.

Remove the pan from the heat and sift the flour over mushrooms to coat, stirring well between each addition until all of the flour has been added. 

Stir in the beef stock a little at a time mixing well until all the flour dissolves. Add the pepper. 

Return the pan to the stove and bring the soup to a boil, stirring often until it  thickens, about 7 minutes.

Reduce the heat and whisk in the milk. Cook over a low heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat as soon as soup reaches your desired thickness. 

Taste for salt and add a little, if needed. Depending on the saltiness of the beef stock you used, you might not need any.

If you set aside a few small mushrooms and sliced them for garnish, fry them till almost crispy in a nonstick skillet with a drizzle of olive oil. 

Stir the sherry into the soup. 

Garnish each bowl with some chopped parsley and a few of the fried mushroom slices.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today I’m hosting. I chose soup recipes for our theme because, and y’all probably know this, January is National Soup Month! If you have not been celebrating, fear not. It is followed quickly on by National Soup Day on  February 4th.  Check out the lovely soups my blogger friends are sharing: 

• Bacon Cheeseburger Soup from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Cabbage Roll Soup from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chicken and Dumplings Soup from Palatable Pastime
• Chicken Enchilada Soup from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Homemade Golden Mushroom Soup from Food Lust People Love
• Keto Broccoli & Tomato Soup from Sneha's Recipe

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Lemony Spring Vegetable Chicken Soup

This Lemony Spring Vegetable Chicken Soup is a light, flavorful bowl of comfort food, with tender chicken, asparagus, new potatoes, carrots and peas.

This recipe is adapted from one in delicious. magazine from 2023. The original recipe was supposed to be accompanied by a gremolata made from the hard stems one trims from the asparagus because they aren’t typically edible. 

This is a fabulous idea except that right when I get home from the store with asparagus, I cut off those ends and discard them. Then I put my asparagus in a jar or glass with water in the fridge door, much like cut flowers. A trim assures that the asparagus can suck up some water, which keeps them lovely and fresh for much longer than normal. If only I had seen this recipe first! 

Cut the ends at angle for better uptake of water. 

So, two days later, when I did trim more to make the gremolata, I had to use tender ends instead. (I also substituted green onions for parsley).  No idea how the woody ends would have tasted but my gremolata was lovely. I’m leaving the original instruction in case you have woody ends you’d like to use. Let me know how it turns out! 

Lemony Spring Vegetable Chicken Soup

Use the vegetable amounts as a suggestion. If you have a few more potatoes and asparagus or a few less carrots and green peas, it doesn’t matter. Go with what you’ve got. This is a protein rich soup with one chicken breast per serving. 

Ingredients to serve 4

For the soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 lb 9 oz or 600g total)

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to finish dish

11 1/2 oz or 325g new potatoes, preferably Jersey Royals, scrubbed and sliced into thick coins

10 1/2 oz or 300g spring carrots, scrubbed and sliced into thick coins

1/2 cup of 120ml dry white wine

4 cups or 946ml chicken stock

10 1/2 oz or 300g asparagus, before trimming

7 oz or 200g petit pois or small sweet peas, defrosted if frozen

Juice 1/2 lemon

For the asparagus gremolata:

Trimmed ends asparagus in soup ingredient list

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 spring onions, green part only, sliced finely, plus extra for garnish, if desired

2 small cloves garlic

Zest 1 1/2 lemons

Juice 1 lemon

To serve:

Asparagus gremolata

4 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt or sour cream (one for each bowl)

Lemon zest

Finely sliced green onions, if desired

Method

First thing, we’ll start the gremolata. Snap or trim the woody ends from the asparagus. Cut the spears in halves and set aside, then finely slice the woody ends into discs. Put the discs in a small sieve over a bowl and sprinkle with salt to soften them a little. 

Put the green onions in another small bowl, then use a microplane or fine grater to grate the garlic and the zest of 1 1/2 lemons into it. The zest of the other half of the lemon can be used as garnish on the finished dish so definitely zest them both and set one quarter aside for serving. 

Season the chicken with the sea salt and black pepper.

Heat half the oil in a shallow sauté pan or casserole with a lid then add the seasoned chicken breast to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until all the breasts are a lovely golden brown.  

They will still be raw inside but don’t let that worry you. We will finish cooking them in the soup later. Transfer the breasts to a plate and set aside. 

Add the remaining oil to the pan, followed by the sliced potatoes and carrots. 

Fry for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then add the wine. 

Cover for a few minutes to allow the carrots and potatoes to just about cook through, then take of the lid and leave the wine to bubble until it is reduced by half (about 4 minutes.)

Pour in the chicken stock and bring up to a simmer. Nestle the chicken in the pan (it should be fully submerged in stock), then cover and simmer gently for 6 minutes.

While the chicken simmers, finish the gremolata by mixing the salty sliced asparagus with the green onion/lemon zest mix. Set aside.

When your six minutes of simmering are up, stir the peas and asparagus into the soup. 

Cover and gently simmer for 2-4 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. 

Add the lemon juice and a good few grinds of black pepper.

Divide the soup into four bowls, one breast each, and top with lemon zest and some green onions, if desired. 

Serve the gremolata and yogurt or sour cream on the side so everyone can add a dollop of each to their bowls. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are serving up comfort foods! Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out all the links below. 

• Sneha's Recipe: Baked Vegetables Pasta Less Lasagna
• Karen's Kitchen Stories:BBQ Glazed Meatloaf with Sweet Potatoes and Pearl Onions
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Broccoli Cheese Pierogi Soup
• Culinary Cam:Comforting Beef Stroganoff
• Food Lust People Love:Lemony Spring Vegetable Chicken Soup
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Roast Pork Loin with Cherry Sauce

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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