Zaatar Roast Chicken with Aubergine and Buttery Rice
A repost from my previous blog.
This was inspired by Matt’s kitchen where we had something similar. It is worth a trip to Bruton to go to this inspired restaurant where during lockdown 2021 he is feeding local people in need for free. Hats off to Matt!
This 2kg chicken would serve 6 people.
INGREDIENTS
1 x free range chicken between 1.7 and 2.1kilos but it is not that important, you will just have stronger or not as strong flavour if the size differs hugely.
1 lemon to place in the cavity.
Fresh Coriander to garnish
If you have some leftover it will be delicious with salad or in a wrap for lunch – but don’t forget the yoghurt sauce at the end.
1 x free range chicken between 1.7 and 2.1kilos but it is not that important, you will just have stronger or not as strong flavour if the size differs hugely.
1 lemon to place in the cavity.
Fresh Coriander to garnish
For the Paste
5 large cloves garlic
1tsp Maldon sea salt or half a tsp of table salt
1.5tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp smoked paprika
1tbsp lemon juice
1tsp plain oil or light olive oil
If you have some leftover it will be delicious with salad or in a wrap for lunch – but don’t forget the yoghurt sauce at the end.
1. Put all of the paste ingredients in a pestal and mortar and pound to a pulp.
2. Wash your hands!
3. Push your hand under the chicken’s skin to loosen it and try to loosen it around the legs also. Try not to break through the skin; it is not the end of the world if you do but best if you don’t.
4. Put a spoonful of the paste under the skin. Spread it around the meat from the top of the chicken. Do the same with the legs as best you can.
5. Either spread unsalted butter all over the chicken and sprinkle with salt, or do the same with oil such as olive or rapeseed. (I spread butter over one half and oil over the other in order to test which was better. While there was not an enormous difference, the buttery side was crisper.)
6. Put the chicken in a hot oven of about 190-200 degrees C for thirty minutes. Baste the chicken with its juices, and return to the oven.
7. Reduce the heat to 170C and roast for another hour. Open the door about every twenty minutes to baste the chicken with its cooking juices.
I served this with buttery rice, roasted peppers and aubergine, recipe below. Garnish with fresh coriander
Lemony Garlicky Aubergine
Serves 4 -6 depending on if you have other vegetables.
Ingredients
1 medium aubergine
half a clove of finely chopped garlic
Lemon juice – about 2 tbsp
Plain oil – start with 2 tbsp
salt
1. Chop the aubergine into pieces, about 3cm x 1cm.
2. Fry the aubergine in plain oil such as rapeseed over a medium high heat. If the aubergine catches on the bottom of the pan, add a little more oil but be careful not to add too much as aubergine will happily absorb a lot of it. Try to stir to stop the catching instead and just add oil if absolutely necessary.
3. After five minutes or so, add very finely diced garlic.
4. Fry and stir until tender and then add a tablespoon or two of lemon juice and season to taste.
Yoghurt Sauce
I do realise that every component of this dish so far involves garlic! But because the chicken garlic is roasted and the addition to the aubergine is small, it does work.
Ingredients
250 mls plain yoghurt
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp maldon sea salt or 1/8 of table salt
1. Finely chop the garlic and sprinkle the salt on top.
2. Using the flat side of a knife, press the salt into the garlic so that a paste is formed.
3. Add this to the yoghurt.
Buttery Rice
This is not that buttery but it somehow tastes it in a delicious comforting way. The onions add sweetness.
Ingredients
20g butter
1tbsp plain oil
1 medium sized onion finely diced
125g rice
325mls boiling water or mild chicken stock
1. Melt the butter and oil together.
2. Cook the onion until almost golden.
3. Add the rice and stir to coat with the onion mixture.
4. Add the water and turn the heat to low.
5. Put the lid on for about 10-15 minutes but check after 8.
6. When the liquid is mostly absorbed, remove the pan from the heat and place a tea towel over the pan, with a lid on top of the tea towel. Leave it to rest for a few minutes for the final liquid to be absorbed and the rice to fluff up.
ngredients
200 mls plain yoghurt
2 tbsp Zaatar (this is a mixture of thyme, sesame seeds, sumac, salt, Margoram, oregano – I bought some by Mymoune)
grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
1 happy chicken
1 tbsp olive oil
Maldon Sea Salt
Cous Cous
1 1/2 cups cous cous
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
a handful of sultanas
1/3rd of the chicken gravy
Next time I will add a diced aubergine fried in olive oil and garlic to the couscous when it is ready.
1. Mix the yoghurt with the Zaatar and Lemon zest.
2. Using rubber food gloves I very carefully separated the skin from the thicken so that I was able to feed the yoghurt mixture under the skin of the breast and the leg. It is so easy to tear the skin so do it when you are not in a rush! I spread the mixture around the meat by removing my hands and doing so from its surface.
3. Drizzle a little olive oil over the surface of the chicken and sprinkle with Maldon Sea salt or equivalent.
4. Roast at 200 degrees C for between 1 hour and 1 and a half, depending on the size of your chicken. When the legs feel as if they will easily come away from the chicken, it is ready.
5. Remove the chicken and let it rest.
6. Put some cous cous in a pan and put some olive oil, and lemon juice on top of it. Pour boiling water so that it just covers the surface. Place a lid and leave to infuse until soft. Add sultanas and put the lid back on after five minutes.
7. Pour some gravy from the chicken roasting tin over the top of the cous cous and reserve the rest to have with the carved chicken.
I promise you this is so delicous and exciting in its simpilcity. I get so fed up with the washing up following a roast and this is a simply yum scrum answer.
