Harissa Chicken

I’ve recently started using more chilli into our food as I love it but it can be a challenge with the boys as one of them, in particular, isn’t keen! By adding tomato and garlic to the harissa, the paste goes further and it has a fabulous flavour.

Feel free to adjust the harrisa paste quantities to suit your taste buds. 

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1.8kg chicken, jointed into 10 pieces

2 tablespoons Harissa paste

90g semi sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained

2 Roma tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, peeled

30ml olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Using a food processor or stick blender, whizz the Harissa, tomatoes, garlic, oil and seasoning to make a lumpy paste.

Marinade the chicken in the marinade for 4 hours if you have time.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.

Spread the chicken out in a roasting tin, spreading any excess marinade over the top, and slide into the preheated oven.

Bake for 20minutes and then baste with the pan juices.

Return to the oven and repeat a couple more times, every 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Mojo Chicken

This is my version of the Cuban dish, Pollo Con Mojo.

The boys have lots of fun with the name, heaps of Austin Powers jokes while trying to eat dinner!

By cutting the chicken down like this it cooks more quickly and using the spine as a rack stops the meat getting too burnt in the caramelised orange juice.

Any leftovers are fabulous for quesadilla fillings the next day.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

1.8kg chicken

200mls freshly squeezed orange juice

1 lime, zest and juice

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 garlic cloves

1 green chilli, deseeded

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

salt and pepper

Method

Turn the chicken, breast side down. Take a pair of poultry sheers and cut down either side of the spine, I find it easiest to cut down from the parsons nose end! Set the spine aside. Turn the chicken breast side up and push down the breasts to flatten the chicken.

Now make the marinade, combine all of the other ingredients and whizz in a food processor or use a stick blender to make the marinade.

Combine the chicken and marinade in a bag and pop in the fridge for 30mins-2hours if you have time.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade

Take a roasting tin and place the chicken spine on the base, top with the chicken and then pour over the marinade.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, basting every 20 minutes. If the wings are colouring too quickly, wrap them with a little foil.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving.

 

Chipotle Chilli And Sundried Tomato Roast Chicken

Only a week of school holidays to go so time to get back into sharing what I’ve been up to in the kitchen these last few weeks!

As many of you know, I’m a BIG fan of flattening whole chooks like this, it’s really quite easy with a pair of poultry shears or kitchen scissors, you just cut up each side of the spine, trim around the skin, flip the chook over and squash the breasts down with the palm of your hand. I then loosen as much of the skin as I can to then pour the marinade right in against the skin for maximum flavour and to give you some really juicy chicken.

Dont waste any pan juices or the bones either! I pop the removed spines under the chooks to roast at the same time and then once we are done, all of the bones and pan juices go into the pressure cooker to make an amazing smoky stock, great for tomato based soups or even dirty rice!

Serves 10-12.

Ingredients

2 x 1.6kg chickens, spines removed and flattened

2 chipotle chillies in Adobe sauce plus and extra tablespoon of sauce

10 Sundried tomato halves

4 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

1 tablespoon dried oregano

100mls olive oil

salt and pepper

Method

Prepare the chicken first. once the spine has been removed, I use poultry shears, flatten the chicken breasts with the palm of you hand. Next, slide your fingers up under the skin over the breasts, legs and thighs, loosening it as you go.

In a processor, whizz up the chipotle chillies and sauce, Sundried tomatoes, garlic, smoked paprika, oregano, salt, pepper and oil.

Now, por the marinade into a piping bag or a food prep bag. Cut the corner off and use the bag to squeeze most of the marinade under the skin of the two chooks. Rub the remaining marinade over the outside over the skin while rubbing the marinade under the skin to make sure it goes into all of the nooks and crannies!

Allow the chicken to marinade for 4-24 hours if you have time.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.

Lay the chooks in a roasting tin, breasts up.

Roast in the oven for 80 minutes, basting regularly until the skin is supe crisp and the meat cooked through.

Allow to rest for 20 minutes before serving to give you supe moist meat.

Capsicum Roast Chicken With Potatoes

Any busy household needs this recipe! By flattening the chicken it cooks quickly and the potatoes help to fill hungry tums, all you need is a salad and dinner is ready.

I cheat with the capsicums too, I keep a jar of fire roasted capsicums in fridge. If you are using fresh capsicum you will need to blacken them over a flame and then peel them and remove the seeds.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

3 large fire roasted capsicums, seeds removed

3 cloves garlic

40g Parmesan, finely grated

50mls olive oil

salt and pepper

1.6kg chicken, butterflied

1kg baby potatoes

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.

Process the capsicums, garlic, Parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper until you have a smooth paste.

Take the chicken and using poultry shears, cut up either side of the spine, turn the chicken over and push down on the breasts to flatten.

Using your fingers, slide them under the skin and loosen it all over.

Pour half of the marinade into a plastic bag. Cut the corner off and use this as a piping nozzle, squeezing the marinade under the skin on the breasts. Then, using your hands, massage the marinade under the skin to cover all of the meat.

Place the chicken in a roasting tin and then pour over the remaining marinade, spread over the skin and cavity.

Add the potatoes to the roasting tin and pop the tin into the oven.

Roast for 20minutes and then baste and turn the potatoes, return to the oven and roast again for 20 minutes and baste and turn again, roast for a last 10-20 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked and then allow to rest for 20minutes before carving.

Chicken and Sweetcorn Hand Pies

Leftovers come back to life in these fun pies.

I tend to make up a BIG batch and then freeze them to be reheated at a later date, normally evenings when we are all coming and going a bit too much!

Makes 12 pies.

Ingredients

450g cooked chicken, brown and white meat

400g frozen sweetcorn, defrosted

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 red onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 jalapeño, deseeded and finely diced

250g cream cheese

20g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks

salt and pepper

1 kg puff pastry sheets, 6 sheets

1 egg, beaten

smoked paprika

Method

In a large pan, heat the oil and cook the onion until soft, add the chilli and garlic and cook for two minutes.

Add the cooked chicken and sweetcorn to the pan and mix well.

Add the cream cheese and mix until the cheese has melted and coated the chicken. Season well and allow to cool completely.

Once the filling has cooled, stir through the coriander.

Defrost the pastry and cut each sheet in half, spoon one twelfth of the filling onto one half of the cut sheet, brush the edges with egg and seal using a fork. Brush the top with egg and sprinkle over a little smoked paprika. Repeat with the remaining filling and pastry.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and bake the pies in batches for around 30 minutes until crispy.

 

Sour Cream And Jalapeño Chilli Chicken

Another favourite in our house.

You can prepare this ahead of time and just pop it in the oven when you are ready.

To be honest, one chicken is never enough in my house now so we are a two chook family, leftovers are great in quesadillas.

Serves 8-10.

Ingredients

2 x 1.8kg chickens, spine removed and flattened

4 jalapeño chillies, halved, seeds removed and cut into strips across the width

10 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

Zest and juice of 2 limes

a handful of chopped fresh coriander, mostly stalks is fine.

300mls light sour cream

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Flatten the chickens, skin side up in your roasting tin.

Combine the chilli, garlic, zest, juice, coriander, sour cream, salt and pepper in a bowl.

Smear the marinade all over the chicken and pop into the oven, uncovered.

Roast for 40 minutes and then baste with the pan juices, return to the oven and baste another couple of times, every 20 minutes should do it.

Check the chicken is cooked through and then allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.

 

Slow Roast Chicken with Sundried Tomatoes and Chipotle Chillies

Due to the long slow cooking, this chicken is falling apart and super moist so I don’t carve it, simply pull it off, cut the skin up too and serve on a platter with blackened sweetcorn and rice or a few tortilla chips.

Leftovers are super in enchiladas with a sour cream sauce and make lovely filled wraps with any leftover sweetcorn.

Keep the bones and boil them up for stock with any leftover juices, great for a smokey tomato soup.

Serves 8-10 with leftovers.

Ingredients

2 x 1.6kg whole chickens

4-6 chipotle chillies in adobe sauce, plus their sauce

10 sundried tomato halves

2 teaspoons salt

50mls olive oil

2 limes, quartered

Method

In a food processor or stick blender, whizz the chillies, tomatoes and oil to form a thick paste.

Take each chicken and gently, using your fingers, loosen, underneath the skin of the breasts and legs.

Take a third of the paste and rub under the skin, repeat on the second chook.

Take the remaining paste and rub over the outside of both birds.

Place a quartered lime into the cavity of each chicken.

If you have time allow to sit in the fridge for 4-24 hours.

When you are ready to cook, pop the chicken into a roasting tin.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade.

Take a piece of baking parchment, large enough to cover the top and sides of the chicken, scrunch it up and hold under warm water until damp.

Stretch the baking parchment over the chicken, tucking it in at the sides, top with tin foil, make sure it is well sealed so no steam can escape.

Bake in the oven for 3 hours.

After three hours increase the heat to 180 degrees Centigrade, take the chicken out and remove the foil and baking parchment.

Baste the chicken with the pan juices.

Return to the oven and roast for a further 50-60 mins, basting regularly.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for at least 20mins.

Pour off any pan juices, allow them to settle and remove any fat from the top. Taste and check for seasoning.

Strip the meat from the chickens, cutting up the crispy skin too, place in a serving dish with sides. Pour the warm pan juices over and serve warm or at room temperature.