Cyrus’s Honey-Roasted Chicken with Outstanding Roasties
A stunning honey roasted chicken recipe from The Incredible Spice Men. The recipe is complete with inviting sage, garlic and chilli spiced roast potatoes.
Introduction
This chicken is flavoured with a combination I have liked very much since childhood. I had acute asthma, and when the coughing fits got too heavy my parents would make me a juice of ginger blended with turmeric, honey and cinnamon. It worked like a dream, and to this day I swear by it. I tried roasting chicken with the mixture one day, adding some other touches – it was fantastic. To serve this with Tony’s roasties, you’ll need two ovens; the cooking temperatures are different.
Ingredients
| 1.2kg (2lb 10oz) | chicken |
| For the marinade: | |
| 6 tbsp | honey |
| 50g (2oz) | fresh root ginger, chopped |
| 1 tsp | turmeric |
| 1 tsp | ground cinnamon |
| 3 tbsp | light soy sauce |
| 2 tbsp | lime juice |
| 3 tbsp | cold-pressed rapeseed or olive oil |
| Salt and freshly ground black pepper | |
| For the roasties: | |
| 1-1.2kg (2lb 4oz-2lb 10oz) | floury potatoes, peeled and cut roughly into 5cm (2in) chunks |
| 100ml (3½fl oz) | rapeseed oil or vegetable oil |
| 2 tsp | dried sage |
| 1 tsp | chilli powder |
| 1 tsp | vegetable bouillon powder |
| ¼ tsp | garlic powder (optional) |
Essential kit
You will need a blender or mini food-processor.
Method
In a blender or mini food-processor, blitz together all of the marinade ingredients to a fine paste. Taste and adjust the seasoning if liked.
Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper. Put it in a dish and rub the marinade all over it and if time allows let it rest for an hour or so in the fridge. Preheat an oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Put the chicken in a roasting tin and baste with any excess marinade, reserving anything left over. Put the roasting tin in the oven and cook for 1 hour. You need to keep an eye on it for the first 10-15 minutes – the honey in the marinade will burn, so allow the chicken to brown in these first few minutes, and then cover it loosely with aluminium foil. Baste the chicken a few times during cooking, adding some of the reserved marinade if it starts to look dry.
To cook the potatoes, preheat an oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7. Put the prepared potatoes in a pan of salted water, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 7 minutes till only just underdone. Meanwhile, pour the oil into a large roasting tin and put into the oven for 5 minutes until hot.
Drain the potatoes well. Cover the pan and shake the potatoes about – you want to bash up their edges but not break them up. Gently transfer them to the hot roasting tin, turn them about in the hot oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast on the top shelf for 30 minutes, then turn them over and roast for a further 20-30 minutes or until crisp and golden.
After the chicken has been roasting for 1 hour, check whether it is cooked. (The meat is cooked when a thin skewer or a thick needle inserted in the thigh joint produces a clear liquid.) Transfer to a serving dish, cover the chicken with foil and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before you carve it.
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