Chicken Traybake With Meyer Lemons Instead Of Bitter Oranges

Our answer

Nigella's Chicken Traybake With Bitter Orange And Fennel (from SIMPLY NIGELLA) marinates chicken thighs in a mixture that includes the juice and zest of seville oranges, before roasting with wedges of fennel. Seville oranges are bitter oranges that are most commonly used for marmalade. Meyer lemons are lemons that are sweeter, and slightly deeper gold in colour, than normal lemons. They are a cross between a regular lemon and an orange citrus, probably a mandarin. The first fruits were brought from China to America by Frank Meyer.

Meyer lemons would be a possible substitute for Seville oranges in this dish. As Meyer lemons tend to yield more juice than a regular lemon we would use them as a direct swap for the oranges. Unfortunately Meyer lemons are difficult to find outside of the US and have a season that runs from December though to April or May. Seville oranges have a very short season and are usually available in the UK around January. So if neither of these are availble you can still make the traybake and use a combination of the zest and juice of 1 orange plus the juice of 1 lemon to give a balance of sweet and sour citrus flavour.