Home Cooking
Disclaimer: If you’re a vegan you may want to skip this post.
Hello! ❤️ I thought I would share with you one of my recent culinary creations that I cooked last week for a dinner guest. On the menu? Harissa and honey chicken with couscous and tzatziki. I thought I would take you through my process, which of course always starts with great ingredients. I tend to make my recipes up based on what I like the look of in the grocers, what is in season, and the personal tastes of who I am cooking for. I bought this Label Rouge chicken from Ginger Pig butchers – truly the best chickens. Corn fed, not pumped full of any hormones or weird stuff, and full of flavour. I try to buy British produce as much as possible, but never to the detriment of flavour, so in this case I opted for this French chicken as it’s simply the best quality. I also bought some chicken kidneys with no real idea what I would do with them. I hadn’t cooked them before but thought I could use them somehow, plus they are very nutritious.
At home I spatchocked the chicken – which is when you cut the backbone out and flatten out the chicken. I almost always cook a whole chicken in this way as it means it cooks faster, and more evenly. Wearing surgical gloves to protect my manicure, I slathered the chicken in my honey and harissa marinade, the exact recipe of which is a secret. In the base of my pan (Le Creuset of course) I add shallots, garlic, peppers, thyme, and some baby carrots which I peeled and trimmed. I then trimmed, chopped, and added the chicken kidneys and a splash of wine. I was a bit freaked out by the look and smell of the kidneys but managed to be brave and prepare them. On top of this I placed my whole chicken, and cooked under a lid in the oven. I cook under a lid so the chicken steams for the majority of the cooking, making for a juicier bird. Then at the end I take the lid off to give the skin colour and flavour.
Whilst the chicken is cooking, I made the couscous and flavoured it with parsley, coriander, spring onions, olive oil and lemon, and finished with pomegranate seeds. Very herby and fragrant. Then I made the tzatziki, straining grated cucumbers and adding to Greek yoghurt with dill, garlic, lemon, and olive oil. This is a nice cooling side to have with the sweet and spicy chicken.
I served the chicken straight from the pan “family style” with the couscous and tzatziki. A fantastic gravy had formed under the chicken which was very flavourful. My dining guest said the meal was excellent and of restaurant standard (of course I announced that it’s “not my best work” whilst secretly being very pleased as I love when people enjoy my cooking). The kidneys which I was most worried about, ended up being one of the most delicious parts of the meal: Having cooked in the gravy they had a delicious pate-like texture and added body to the sauce. Below is my final result, which I was pleased with. What do you think? 😇
