Rustic Greek Style Roast Chicken With Smashed Potatoes Food

ROASTED SMASHED POTATOES

Steps:

• Place potatoes into a 5-quart stockpot and cover with 3 quarts of cold water. Add kosher salt and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently until potatoes are just tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and drain well. Let potatoes cool just until they're safe to handle.
• Transfer potatoes onto a sheet pan and continue cooling to room temperature. Make 4 or 5 shallow cuts down the sides of each potato, about every inch or so, to ensure the skin splits evenly when smashed. Refrigerate until completely chilled and ready to smash; 8 hours to overnight is best.
• Combine butter, sliced garlic, rosemary, and thyme in a small pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until butter melts and begins to bubble, and garlic softens and starts to turn translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (232 degrees C). Line 2 metal baking sheets with silicone baking mats (such as Silpat®) and generously brush on some of the infused melted butter.
• Remove potatoes from the fridge and gently smash each between two pieces of plastic using a flat, heavy object until 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick. Season generously with salt, pepper, and cayenne on both sides, being careful not to break potatoes up into small pieces. Transfer onto a sheet pan, being careful not to overlap potatoes. Very generously drizzle and brush most of the melted butter on top.
• Bake potatoes in the preheated oven until well browned and crunchy around the edges, 35 to 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the pan with the remaining garlic and herb butter back over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring, until garlic starts to turn a very light golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and reserve.
• Carefully transfer potatoes onto a serving platter and scatter over the golden brown slices of garlic. Crumble the toasted herbs on top if desired. Serve immediately.

TUSCAN ROASTED POTATOES & LEMON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Place the potatoes on a sheet pan, add the garlic, rosemary, lemon, olive oil, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper, and toss until everything is coated with oil. Spread out in one layer.
• Roast for 50 to 60 minutes, turning the potatoes with a metal spatula every 20 minutes, until the potatoes are browned and crisp on the outside and tender inside. The garlic will be browned and sweet and the lemon slices will be caramelized. Discard the rosemary branches, sprinkle with fleur de sel, and serve hot.

MASHED PARSNIPS WITH LEMON AND HERBS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the parsnips and cook until tender when pierced with a fork, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain the parsnips in a colander and let them steam under a clean kitchen towel for about 5 minutes. Return the parsnips to the pot and mash them with a potato masher, keeping them rather rough. Stir in the crème fraîche, butter, lemon zest, and juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a warm serving bowl and sprinkle with the chopped herbs.

RUSTIC ROASTED GARLIC CHICKEN WITH ASIAGO GRAVY

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper) and brown, about 3-5 minutes per side, before setting aside.
• Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onions are tender and the everything is lightly browned, about 3-5 minutes.
• Sprinkle in the thyme and flour and cook for a minute.
• Add the broth and deglaze the pan by scraping the brown bits off of the bottom of the pan with a spoon while the broth is sizzling when added.
• Mix the asiago into the sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Add the chicken, cover (with a lid or foil) and roast in a preheated 400F/200C oven for 15 minutes OR turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer on the stove top for 15 minutes.

RUSTIC GREEK-STYLE ROAST CHICKEN WITH SMASHED POTATOES

Steps:

• Start by preparing the potatoes. This can be done well in advance. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the potatoes, whole and unpeeled and boil, uncovered, for 25 minutes or until very soft. Remove potatoes from the water to a plate until needed. It doesn't matter if they get cold.
• Now, divide each bunch of herbs roughly into four: one quarter to go between the skin and the breast; one quarter to go in the cavity; one quarter to scatter over the chicken; and one quarter reserved for garnish. Strip the leaves from one quarter of the oregano and one quarter of the thyme discarding any woody stalks. Leave the remaining herbs intact.
• Now, wash the cavity of the chicken with cold running water and dry the chicken very well, inside and out, with paper towels. Using a pair of kitchen shears or a sharp pair of scissors, trim the wing tips from the chicken as these will burn at the high temperature you're going to cook at.
• Preheat your oven to 240C or 230C fan-forced and make sure there's a rack in the centre, or just below the centre and plenty of room above for the chicken.
• Place the chicken on a plate and, carefully, working from the neck end, slip your finger between the skin and the flesh on the right breast of the chicken, breaking through the membrane and separating the skin from the flesh, being careful not to pierce the skin with your fingernail. Try to wriggle your finger down near the drumstick and separate some of the skin from it too. Repeat for the left breast.
• In a bowl, roughly mix together the butter cubes, the herb leaves you've stripped from their stalks, and the chopped, peeled garlic.
• Using your fingers, push this mixture carefully into the pockets you've formed between the skin and the flesh of the chicken breasts and, if possible, a little way down towards the drumsticks. It doesn't matter if a bit falls out, you can just shove that into the cavity later.
• Put the chopped, unpeeled garlic and one, 'one-quarter' bunch each of the oregano and thyme into the cavity of the chicken. You should now have two bunches each of the oregano and thyme left, and one bulb of unpeeled garlic cloves.
• If using a large lemon, cut in half and squeeze the juice from one half only. If using two small lemons, squeeze one whole lemon. Drizzle the lemon juice over the top of the chicken, and place the squeezed portion/s of the lemon into the cavity.
• Thinly slice the unsqueezed large lemon half, or whole small lemon, and set slices aside.
• Line a large baking pan with silicone (baking) paper. (Be sure to use a pan that will withstand a high heat. Non-stick pans are probably not suitable for this as you may ruin the coating.) Lining the pan is optional, but it makes washing up a lot easier and stops stuff from sticking.
• Place the sliced onion in the base of the pan and place the chicken on top.
• Now, arrange the lemon slices over the top of the chicken, and scatter the unpeeled garlic cloves over the top, being sure to tuck some of the garlic and the lemon slices down between the breast and the leg.
• Sprinkle generously with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
• Now, take the potatoes you cooked earlier and, using a potato masher, push down on each one gently until the skin splits and the potato inside breaks up a bit. Don't worry if they fall apart a little bit. It's supposed to look rustic! They should look squashed but not flattened.
• Now, arrange the potatoes around the chicken in the baking pan and sprinkle them with salt and pepper, then drizzle the potatoes and the chicken generously with olive oil. By all means use extra virgin olive oil if you like it, but it's not essential, ordinary olive oil will do.
• Finally, scatter the remaining herbs over the chicken and the potatoes.
• Spoon four tablespoons of water into the baking pan then place it into the pre-heated oven on the centre shelf.
• Roast for at 240C or 230C fan-forced, for about 50 minutes to 1 hour or until the chicken is cooked.
• Remove chicken from oven and place on a plate to rest for 10 minutes.
• If potatoes are not quite crisp enough, place them in another pan and return to the oven while you prepare the sauce.
• Now, pick out any obviously burned bits or herb stalks from the baking pan, as well as the onion rings and any bits of lemon that have fallen off the chicken. Discard these bits.
• Using the back of a teaspoon, squash any unpeeled garlic cloves which are still soft and extract the soft garlic pulp from inside and discard the papery bits. Transfer the garlic pulp to a heat proof jug.
• Now, pour the drippings from the pan into the same jug. Don't worry if you haven't got a lot of liquid at this stage, you'll get quite a bit when you cut the chicken.
• Add the chicken stock to the jug.
• Allow this mixture to stand for a few minutes then skim or spoon the excess oil off the top.
• Now, check the potatoes if they're still in the oven and remove if ready, or leave them there if you want them even crispier.
• Now, dust off any burned bits of lemon, garlic or herbs on top of the chicken, divide the chicken into serving portions and pour off any liquid into the jug.
• Add extra lemon-juice, salt and pepper to the jug to taste.
• Heat the sauce in the jug in the microwave until hot.
• Serve chicken, drizzled generously with the hot lemony, garlicky sauce, along with the crispy smashed potatoes and garnish with the reserved herbs.
• A Greek Salad is a perfect accompaniment to this meal.

GREEK POTATO HASH

Steps:

• Place your potatoes in a medium pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Boil for 10-13 minutes until the potatoes are soft and tender but not mushy. PRO TIP You can test this by pushing a table knife into a potato; it should slide in easily without the potato disintegrating.
• Drain the potatoes using a colander. Leave them in the colander for a minute to release steam, so that the excess moisture evaporates.
• Take a large frying pan/skillet. Heat up the olive oil until hot and carefully add in the potatoes (the oil can spit a bit. Crush the potatoes slightly using the back of a fork. Fry the potatoes for about 6-8 minutes, turning every couple of minutes until you get a nice brown crust on them.
• Add in the onion, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Give everything a stir every minute or so to prevent it sticking.
• Turn the heat off and crumble the feta over the top. Sprinkle on the lemon zest and parsley and serve.

GREEK ROASTED CHICKEN & POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400F and pull the chicken out of the fridge to bring to room temperature for 20-30 minutes, pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and season inside and out with salt and pepper.
• In a 9x13" baking dish (or similar size), place the chicken in the middle of the dish and toss the quartered potatoes and half of the onion wedges around the chicken. Drizzle the olive oil the chicken and potatoes and toss the garlic cloves, rosemary and thyme sprigs to nestle around the potatoes.
• Juice the lemons over the chicken and potatoes; insert the squeezed lemon halves into the chicken along with the remaining onions; feel free to place any extra lemon halves among the potatoes, cut side up. Sprinkle the dried oregano over the chicken and potatoes.
• Sprinkle the garlic powder and onion powder over the chicken, tie the legs together with twine and season the whole dish with the salt and pepper. Pour the chicken stock around the potatoes.
• Bake, uncovered, for around 1 1/2 hours or until cooked through (minimum temperature 165F). Remove from the oven, cover with foil and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with extra fresh rosemary and thyme if desired and serve with a Greek salad if desired.