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Roast Chicken & Crispy Potatoes
Serve your roast end-of-summer style, with a buttery cider reduction, sweet cherry tomatoes, and a fresh salsa verde. This is one showstopping bird!
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 210C / Gas Mark 8. Season the chicken generously with salt and then rub a little olive oil all over. Half the lemon and garlic and place all of it into the cavity of the chicken along with the bay leaf and thyme. Place into a roasting dish and cook in the oven for 25 minutes, until golden brown.
- While the chicken is cooking, par boil your potatoes in salted boiling water, until just tender. Strain and allow to cool.
- Once the chicken is golden, remove from the oven and turn the heat down to 140C / Gas Mark 1. Add the cherry tomatoes to the roasting dish, together with the oregano and a little drizzle of olive oil. Return to the oven and cook for around 45 minutes, until cooked through.
- While the chicken cooks, prepare your salsa verde. Finely chop the herbs, capers, gherkins, and anchovies, and place into a bowl. Add the garlic paste, mustard, oil and vinegar and mix again. Season to taste. You can store this in a jam jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- Once the potatoes have cooled, use a glass or mug to gently crush them against a chopping board or work surface, flattening them slightly.
- Once the chicken is cooked remove from the roasting tray and place onto a board to rest for 20 minutes. Remove the aromatics from the cavity, reserving the garlic for later use. Using a slotted spoon, remove the tomatoes into a bowl. Place the roasting tray back onto the heat, and add the cider to de- glaze, scraping the bottom of the pan and reducing by two thirds. Add the chicken stock and reduce again, until thickened and at coating consistency. Remove from the heat then emulsify the cold butter into the sauce by gently shaking the pan. Season to taste, and add any juices from the rested chicken back into the sauce.
- To finish the potatoes, heat a large frying pan with a good glug of olive oil, add the potatoes and crisp up on either side. Once golden, add the butter and Italian herbs. Squeeze out the garlic flesh from the garlic roasted with the chicken. Foam the butter and cook for several minutes, then remove from the heat.
- To serve, carve up the chicken. At the last-minute, warm the tomatoes through the sauce. Drizzle the chicken with the sauce and top the plate with the salsa verde.
