How to make the best chicken ever? The answer isn’t in the type of chicken you buy, the answer isn’t in the way you cook it, whether it’s grilled, fried, roasted… none of that matters. The answer isn’t even in the seasoning.
How to make the best chicken ever?
By letting it marinate for hours before you cook it; overnight if possible.
Whether you choose to season it with herbs, jerk seasoning, honey and mustard, Chinese five spice… again none of that matters, because that’s just a matter of taste. What really matters is that you let your chicken absorb all the flavours. And I’m no chef but I can tell you – that doesn’t take a couple of minutes, it takes hours!
This is my go-to grilled chicken recipe that works just as well under the grill as it does on the barbecue. And I’d like to shine the light on Very Lazy Garlic, which for me is the star ingredient in this recipe. I’ve been using Very Lazy Garlic for a few weeks now and it’s a total game changer in my kitchen; a great alternative for those of us who hate chopping or crushing garlic. I’ve always loved garlic but I didn’t know garlic could taste so good. Must be the white wine vinegar it’s preserved in!
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 onion
- 2 teaspoons of Very Lazy Garlic
- 1 lemon
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh parsley
- 5 spring onions
- 2 teaspoons of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of white pepper
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 teaspoons of mixed herbs
- 4 table spoons of Olive oil
- A handful of cherry tomatoes
- Carrots or veg of your choice for garnishing
Recipe
- Start by butterflying your chicken. To butterfly a whole chicken simply means that you cut it open, breast side down, from the cavity to the neck, using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife.
Once you’ve done that, make some incisions in the chicken so that the flavours are really absorbed in the flesh.
2. Prepare the marinade. Place the salt, white pepper, mixed herbs and paprika in a small bowl. And add 2 tea spoons of Very Lazy Garlic, and the juice from the lemon. DO NOT throw your lemon away – you’ll pop it under the chicken once you’ve finished seasoning it 🙂
3. Next, chop your onions, spring onions and fresh parsley. For the spring onions, leave out the darker green leafy part and only slice the bulb and the light green part.
4. place them in your blender (and I recommend my awesome Cookworks blender which you can purchase here.). Add the marinade you made earlier, and blend.
5. You now want to cover your chicken with this beautiful marinate. Use your hands! Massage the whole chicken thoroughly, making sure the marinate covers every inch of the chicken. Flip it over and do the back too. Remember to pop the remaining lemon skins right under the chicken, so that it can grill on it and produce that extra lemon-y flavour.
And finally, add some fresh thyme and a few vegetables to garnish the chicken, before placing it under the grill in your oven at 200°C. Cook it for about 25 minutes on each side. If the chicken is still slightly pink inside, you want to leave it in the oven but switch off the grill and use the fan option but still at 200°C.
It’s likely that your vegetables will overcook if you leave them under the grill for that long, so you may want to remove them half way through. You might also want to add a cup of water or two, half way through the process – to create some gravy.
And there you have it! Succulent, juicy chicken to enjoy with whatever side you fancy – roast potatoes, French fries, fried plantain, or rice… It makes for a delicious meal.
If you do try this recipe, be sure to tag #ALaWaiki and let me know how it went!
À la Waïki 