Middle Eastern spiced Sunday roast: sumac and thyme roast chicken, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, roast vegetables with tahina sauce and gravy
Middle Eats · ♥ 1.3K likes · 31.6K views · 11 min video
Read about whole bird in the BrightCulinary Book
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Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 2 whole onions
- 2–3 cloves garlic
- 3 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sumac
- 1½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes
- 6–8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1½ kg whole chicken
Blend the onions, garlic, salt, sumac, black pepper, Aleppo pepper, stripped thyme leaves and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth; the onions turn deep burgundy.
Spatchcock the chicken: cut either side of the back, cut through the bones with kitchen shears to remove the backbone, flip it and press down on the breast to flatten it with the thighs out.
Separate the skin from the breast and thigh meat with fingers or a spoon handle without tearing it; skip the drumsticks if they are difficult.
Pack the marinade into the pockets and massage it over the breast and thigh meat, then coat the underside and rub the rest over the skin.
Marinate at least one to four hours, up to six for more flavour.
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 1 whole lemon zest
- ½ whole orange zest
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp sumac
- ¼ tsp Aleppo pepper
- 5 sprigs thyme
Compound butter: soften the butter in the microwave a few seconds and mix in the lemon and orange zest, minced garlic, salt, pepper, sumac, Aleppo pepper and stripped thyme leaves.
- 200 ml whole milk
- 100 g flour
- 4 whole eggs
- ¼ tsp salt
Yorkshire puddings: blend the whole milk, flour, eggs and salt smooth, transfer to a jug, cover and chill at least an hour -- the batter must be really cold.
Yorkshire pudding batter
- ¾ tsp vegetable oil
Preheat the oven to 230C. Put three quarters of a teaspoon of vegetable oil in each mould, swirl it up the walls and heat the tray in the oven 20 minutes.
Pour the cold batter into the hot oil so it sizzles at once, distribute it evenly, return the tray and drop the oven to 190C.
- 600 g Maris Piper potatoes
Bake 25 to 30 minutes without opening the door, or they collapse; pull them once well browned, turn them out and drain upside down on a wire rack. They can be made ahead. Variation: add spices such as sumac to the batter.
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 whole stock cube
- room temperature water
Roast potatoes: peel, cut into very large chunks and wash off the surface starch. Put them in a large pot with about a tablespoon of salt and an optional stock cube, cover with room temperature water, bring to a rolling boil and boil 10 full minutes.
Drain in a colander and shake them violently so they are coated in craggly starch, which becomes the crisp shell.
Lay them on a wire rack, not touching, and cool 20 full minutes so the shell firms; preheat the oven to 200C.
- 125 g high smoke point fat
- salt
- pepper
Put 125 g of high smoke point fat in a well seasoned oven tray and preheat it in the oven 20 full minutes to frying temperature.
Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and lower them into the hot fat so they sizzle at once; do not crowd the tray. Toss to coat and bake 20 minutes.
Toss and flip them in the fat and give them another 20 minutes until golden and crisp on all sides.
- Aleppo chilli flakes
Season again while hot with salt and a dusting of Aleppo chilli flakes, and lift them off the tray so they do not soften.
- broccoli
- carrots
- cauliflower
- olive oil
Roast vegetables: chop and wash the broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, toss with olive oil, salt and cracked pepper and roast 20 to 30 minutes at 180C, at the same time as the chicken.
- 300 g greek yoghurt
- 50 g tahina
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Tahina sauce: blend or whisk the greek yoghurt, tahina, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic and lemon juice smooth, thinning with water if wanted.
- 1 cloves garlic
- 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- water
Spread the sauce on a plate and arrange the vegetables on top, or serve it in a bowl for dipping.
Remove as much marinade as possible from under the skin and off the outside, or the skin will not crisp.
Readying the chicken for the oven
Tuck small pieces of the compound butter under the skin of both breasts and both thighs and massage it even, then dry the outside with kitchen towels.
- garlic
- shallots
- thyme
- lemon slices
Preheat the oven to 180C. Scatter a few cloves of garlic, some shallots and a few sprigs of thyme in a baking tray; lay lemon slices and more thyme on a wire rack and set the chicken on top.
- olive oil
Rub a little olive oil over the skin, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast about 40 to 50 minutes until well browned; check with a thermometer in a few spots and rest before carving.
- hot water
Gravy: pour hot water into the baking dish and swirl to dissolve the fat and brown bits, discarding anything burnt.
- 15 g butter
- 15 g flour
- 150 ml cold whole milk
Melt 15 g of butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stir in 15 g of flour and cook the roux a minute until it starts to brown, then whisk in 150 ml of cold whole milk.
Add the shallot and garlic from the tray and the strained chicken juices, blend smooth and cook a couple of minutes over medium until it thickens; season and thin with water to taste.
Serve family style on a board, or cut the chicken into four and plate individually with the sides.