It’s wedding season but before you commit to a lifetime of happiness, a word of caution. Do you both like the same kind of food? Maybe not your first thought but you will end up eating all your meals together for the best part of your lives. It’s a big ask. My husband wasn’t a fan of chicken.
I know! It’s been a challenge. But finally, a breakthrough. This spicy marinated blackened chicken was accepted. Why?
“It doesn’t taste like chicken.” The spicy, garlic chilli rub I marinated it in disguised the flavour.
The best cut for this is corn-fed supreme of free-range chicken. The yellow skin breast with the bone attached gives a decent sized piece that can, once flavoured with the marinade, be grilled, or roasted at a high heat to produce a charred crispy skin with moist tender flesh.
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons dried chilli flakes
1-2 teaspoons black pepper corns
1-2 teaspoons course sea salt
Leaves from 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Grated zest and juice unwaxed lemon
4 x corn-fed chicken supremes, skin on, approx. 300g each
Method
Place the garlic, chilli flakes and pepper corns in a pestle and add the sea salt. Crush everything together to make a paste.
Add the herbs, olive oil, lemon juice and zest and mix everything together. Flatten the chicken pieces. Place them on a board and cover with cling film. Use a rolling pin to bash them down and even out the flesh.
Place them in a shallow bowl and pour the rub all over them.
With clean hands, rub the mixture well into the chicken, covering every surface.
Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight. Remove from the fridge an hour before ready to cook.
Pre-heat a grill or oven to highest setting, and place a heavy griddle pan into the oven or under the grill so that it gets hot. Place the chicken pieces skin down on the griddle and roast or grill for 10-15 minutes until the skin is well crisped and blackened. Turn and cook the bottom half a further five minutes, first coating with any remaining marinade.
Make sure the chicken is cooked by checking there is no blood in the middle.
Serve with the juices and some olive oil roasted fennel and a crisp salad.
Mary Contini OBE is a writer and Director of Valvona & Crolla ltd. We are happy to welcome you in our CaffèBar and shop again, open all day. Book and order online: www.valvonacrolla.com
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