Recipe: Chilli-basted half chicken with caper chimichurri

A recipe from Molly Baz's new cookbook, More is More

Molly Baz's philosophy is about adding more and more ingredients to a dish until it explodes with flavour. This chicken recipe is a great example of her cooking style, using a zingy chimichurri to jazz up an already jazzy recipe.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 large Yukon Gold potato
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 small shallot
• 1 bunch of coriander
• 1 serrano chilli or jalapeño
• 1tbs Aleppo pepper, or ¾tsp red pepper flakes
• 2tsp smoked paprika
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Sea salt
• 1tbs capers in brine, drained
• 2tbs sherry vinegar
• ½ chicken (leg and breast attached), or any combination of
• 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or legs

Method

Do some prep

Preheat the oven to 230°C.

Thinly slice the large Yukon Gold potato into 5mm rounds.

In a small bowl, stir together two finely grated garlic cloves, one tablespoon Aleppo pepper, two teaspoons smoked paprika, and a few glugs of olive oil – enough to turn it into a wet-sand-like paste.

Pat dry the chicken with a paper towel and season all over with salt.

Cook the chicken and potatoes

In a large cast-iron frying pan, heat a glug of olive oil over medium-high heat until you see wisps of smoke. Arrange the chicken in the pan, skin-side down, and reduce the heat to medium.

Place a second heavy pan on top of the chicken to encourage the skin to make contact with the oil. Cook until the skin is deeply golden brown and crisp, for eight to 10 minutes. (This timing will depend greatly on the pan you are using and how hot your burners are, so keep an eye on things.) Turn off the heat.

Transfer the chicken to a plate, skin-side up (it will still be raw underneath; this is only temporary). Carefully arrange the potato slices in the skillet in concentric circles, overlapping some. Brush with some of the chilli-garlic oil and season with salt.

Place the chicken on top of the potatoes, skin-side up. Brush the chicken all over with more of the chilli-garlic oil. Transfer to the oven and roast, brushing the chicken or spooning it with some of the schmaltz once or twice as it roasts, about 30 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board to rest. If the potatoes are not yet crisp around the edges, return them to the oven until the outside rings are brown and crisp and the interior potatoes are tender and schmaltzy. This is a best-of-both kind of situation – you're not looking for full-blown potato chips.

While the chicken roasts, make the caper chimichurri

Coarsely chop one small shallot, one bunch of coriander (leaves and stems!), and one serrano chilli (remove the seeds if you are spice averse).

In a food processor or blender, combine the shallot, coriander, serrano, remaining garlic clove, and one tablespoon capers and pulse to finely chop. Add 60ml olive oil and two tablespoons sherry vinegar and blend again until combined but not totally smooth. Season with salt.

Serve

Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve the chicken and potatoes with chimichurri alongside.

You can also do this whole thing by hand by finely chopping all of the herbs and vegetables and stirring in the oil and vinegar.