The Ramsays help young cooks get healthy
Learning how to cook in school is just as important as learning a foreign language
In the first of a new series, Gordon Ramsay and his daughter Tilly join This Morning to help parents and children across the country ditch the ready meals and learn how to cook easy, quick and healthy meals.
Today Gordon and Tilly discuss why they think cooking should be on the curriculum and offer two young cooks a masterclass at their family home in Cornwall.
Sticky lemon chicken with butter lettuce salad
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the chicken
1 large chicken, jointed into 8-10 piecesOlive oil, to fry2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped2 cloves garlic, peeled and slicedFew thyme sprigs, leaves picked2 lemons, sliced into roundsGenerous splash of sherry vinegar1-2 tbsp dark soy sauce1-2 tbsp honey1 lemon and 1 lime, zest of both finely grated
For the salad
2 butter lettuces, washed2 ripe avocados, peeled and stone removed4 spring onions, sliced on an angle
For the dressing
1 tsp Dijon mustardFinely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime juice1 tbsp runny honeyGenerous glug of extra virgin olive oilSplash of cold waterSea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C, 180C Fan, Gas 6.
Season the chicken joints with salt and pepper. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan.
Sear the chicken pieces (in batches if necessary), over a medium to high heat until golden brown all over. Transfer the browned chicken to a large plate.
Add the chopped onions, garlic and thyme leaves to the pan and sauté until softened.
Add the sliced lemon and cook for a couple of minutes, then pour in the sherry vinegar and deglaze the pan. Add the soy sauce and return the chicken to the pan, using tongs to coat the pieces in the sauce.
Drizzle over the honey and place in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Mix together the grated lemon and limes zest in a small bowl and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Remove the chicken from the oven, turn over using tongs to coat in the sticky juices, then pour over the lemon mixture. Return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is sticky.
To make the salad, remove the outer leaves from the lettuces then place each one on a plate and press down to open them out to look like a flower.
Using a small sharp knife, cut through the flesh of the avocado in a small criss-cross pattern. Scatter over the lettuce.
Place all the dressing ingredients into a small jam jar. Screw on the lid tightly and shake to emulsify.
Scatter the spring onion slices over the lettuces and pour the dressing over the top to serve.