Molly's Slow Roasted Piri-Piri Chicken with Potatoes

I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging, and even a little bit from social media. Family life was busy during the fall, as was my food styling business, and the truth is, if I had any extra time to share this just wasn’t my priority. I have been trying over the last 6 months to be a bit more selfish with my time. Carving out 60 minutes to workout every morning, enjoying a bath with salts, taking Rudy for a walk and just being in the moment.

With some of that time, I have been cooking, and even doing what I never thought I would do, meal planning and prep! Nothing too wild. Just some simple things to help get the week started. I hard boil and peel 12 eggs. Make a batch of tuna fish for lunches. Cut up some carrots, celery and cucumber for easy snacks. Whisk together a salad dressing. Harvest greens, squashes and beans from the garden. And then, pick out our proteins for the week. Which is where I found this beyond brilliant recipe in Molly Baz cookbook Cook This Book.

A little while back I was searching for a new spin on a whole chicken recipe. Now I love a whole chicken. Truly, such a great comfort food dish. But this was my first time doing a low and slow method, and man I fell in love. And so did my family. The legs and wings literally fell off, and the breast was so easily tender. Needless to say, I think this is a perfect recipe, and I just had to share. Bravo Molly, this chicken is a beauty.

Molly’s Slow-Roasted Piri-Piri Chicken with Potatoes
Serves 4 (or double the chicken like I did to serve 8)

INGREDIENTS
1 whole garlic head
2 red Fresno or Serrano chiles
2 pounds baby Yukon Gold potatoes
1 3/12-4 pound whole chicken
kosher salt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons double-concentrated tomato paste
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
1 lemon, for serving

STEPS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Season the chicken with 4 teaspoons of kosher salt, inside the cavity as well. Set aside on a baking sheet.

In a small bowl, finely grate 4 cloves of garlic. Cut what’s left of the garlic head in half and set on the baking sheet. Finely grate 2 chiles into the bowl, discard the stem. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, and 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar until combined.

Spoon the mixture over the chicken, coating the whole outside.

If the Yukon gold potatoes are on the larger side, cut them in half, otherwise add the potatoes to the baking sheet, toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt. Arrange them around the chicken, not under.

Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and roast for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 and roast for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. You should be able to easily pull the leg right off when it is done. Two or three times throughout the roasting process, baste the chicken with the juices.

When perfectly tender, remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes. The legs and the wings will easily pull right off, carve the chicken breast and serve with lemon wedges.