Spiced roast chicken with potatoes

This recipe produces a lovely spicy roast chicken that invokes thoughts of North Africa and the Middel East.  Serve for a lunch or dinner party.

Preparation Time: 20 Mins

Cooking Time: 1½ Hrs

Total Time: 10 Hrs

Ingredients

For 6 servings…

1 tsp               Onion  - ground       

1 tsp               Coriander  - ground   

1 tsp               Pepper  - freshly ground, black  

1 tbs               Salt  - flakes

1 tsp               Turmeric    

1 tsp               Paprika  - smoked     

¼ tsp              Cayenne    

1                    Chicken  - whole      

1                    Lemon  - halved       

1 kg                Potatoes  - new        

8 cloves           Garlic  - unpeeled     

1 bunch            Coriander   

For drizzling

                     Olive oil     

Method

On the day before cooking the chicken…

Mix together the onion, coriander, salt, pepper, turmeric, paprika and cayenne.  Place the chicken in a roasting dish and rub the spice blend all over, inside and out, until fully coated.  Cover the chicken and tray with cling film, place in a fridge and marinate overnight.

On the day of cooking…

Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking it.

Heat the oven to 200°C.

Put both halves of the lemon into the cavity of the chicken.  Place the potatoes and garlic cloves around the chicken and drizzle with olive oil.  Season the potatoes with a little salt and place the tray in the oven for 1½  hours.

Check whether the chicken is cooked by inserting a skewer into the thigh meat - the juices should run clear and have no blood in them.  If the chicken needs longer to cook, then continue to roast it for a further 10 minutes.

Leave the chicken to rest for 15 minutes, tossing the potatoes with all the juices in the tray and scraping up any sticky bits.  Roughly chop the fresh coriander and stir through the potatoes before serving.

Wine recommendations

A red or a robust white wine.

Conventional

     Côtes du Rhône

     Lirac blanc

Interesting

     Chénas

     Chinon blanc or rouge

     Côte Chalonnaise blanc or rouge

     Riesling