GLAZED ROAST CHOOK & CRUNCHY TATERS

Comfort food comes in many shapes, sizes and tastes. For me personally, it could be anything my lovely aunty used to cook at weekends when I was a child. Or it could be steak frites with Sauce Béarnaise on the side and a fresh, crisp, green salad. It absolutely could be lemony, cinnamon-y apple pie with flaky pastry. Or... it could be roast chicken pieces, the skin having caramelised to succulent perfection in the oven, accompanied by super crunchy roast potatoes. Like this.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken

10 chicken pieces (I get my butcher to carve a whole organic chicken into 10 pieces and I use them all)

Fresh ginger, thumb sized, grated

1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp runny honey

2 tbsp sunflower, corn or other neutral vegetable oil

Potatoes

6 potatoes, peeled, chopped into chunks (see pic) then par-boiled for 5 minutes in salted water

2 tsp sea salt

Freshly ground white or black pepper

2 tsp semolina

2 tbsp sunflower, corn or other neutral vegetable oil

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 180C

For the chicken

In a small bowl, mix together the grated ginger, crushed garlic, sea salt, black pepper, soy sauce and honey. Add the oil and whisk until well emulsified.

Wash and dry chicken pieces and place in a roasting pan.

Pour over the mixture and make sure the chicken is well coated, turning the pieces.

Place in roasting pan in oven with chicken skin side up.

Roast for 1 hour or a bit more until the skin is caramelized to a golden brown.

For the potatoes

Combine salt, pepper and semolina in a large bowl.

Toss the potatoes in that mixture

Place in a separate roasting tray and drizzle oil over the top, coating them well.

Roast at the same time as the chicken. They should be lovely and crunchy by the time the chicken is done.

Serve with a fresh green salad or other veg of your choice.