Baked chicken with garlic and sherry

This is the most delicious way of cooking chicken which basically creates sticky, sherry-flavoured chicken nuggets. It comes from my friend Charlotte and I’ve been cooking it for about 20 years

Serves 4

A medium-sized chicken or 1 kg chicken thighs

1 head of garlic

extra virgin olive oil

about 3 sprigs each fresh rosemary and/or thyme

100ml fino sherry or white wine

Salt and pepper

* Take a medium-sized chicken and chop/joint it into pieces - slightly bigger than bite-sized - leaving it on the bone or chop each thigh in half with a sharp knife or cleaver. DO NOT REMOVE THE SKIN!

* Sprinkle salt (and pepper) over the chicken pieces

* Take a head of garlic, separate the cloves and, leaving the skin on, smash with the flat side of a knife.

* In a large, thick-bottomed, shallow pan heat a good glug of decent olive oil and sauté/seal the chicken til golden brown (skin-side down first)

* Throw in the garlic and a couple of sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme and turn the heat up, whilst stirring

* Add a small glass of fino sherry or white wine, quickly bring to the boil and then put into a pre-heated oven (180°C/350°/gas 4) for 30-45 minutes until the chicken is cooked and sticky with the caramelised garlic and juices

* Serve with a bitter leaf salad and roasted new potatoes or crusty bread to mop up the juices in the base of the pan.

What to drink: Well, you could carry on drinking sherry but I think that might be overdoing it. I'd go for an oaked white rioja or a white Côtes du Rhône myself.

Want more ideas for pairing with sherry? Download my ebook 101 Great Ways to Enjoy Sherry here.

Oktoberfest Chicken

This recipe which I edited slightly from the version in the Oktoberfest Insider Guide by Sabine Kafer, comes from my beer and food book An Appetite for Ale. The secret is the lavish last minute slathering with butter.

Serves 2
1 small chicken (about 1.2kg or 2lb 10 oz. Geitl stresses the importance of this being dry-plucked)
Salt and pepper
A good handful of fresh parsley with the stalks
50g (2 oz) unsalted butter

An hour before roasting season the chicken generously with pepper and salt “so that even the preparation makes your mouth water” Wash the parsley, shake dry, chop roughly and stuff inside the chicken. If you have a rotisserie attachment in your oven preheat the oven to 220°C/425° F/Gas 7, skewer the chicken on the spit and roast for about an hour.

Alternatively preheat the oven to 200° C, and put the bird breast side downwards in a roasting tin. (Geitl recommends not using a fan oven or fan oven setting for this as it will dry the meat out. Not sure I agree about that.). Roast for about 30 minutes then turn the bird breast upwards and finish cooking (allow 25 minutes per pound in total - just over an hour for a bird of this size.)

Either way - and this is crucial - 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time the bird should be coated with fresh, soft but not runny butter. Repeat this process 4-5 times. To check if the chicken is ready stick a skewer or the point of a sharp knife into the thickest part of the leg. The juices should run clear. Cut the chicken in half down the breastbone and serve half a portion each.

Best beer matches: At the Oktoberfest it would be served with a light Helles beer but I prefer it with a classic Oktoberfest Märzen or a golden lager like Budweiser Budvar.

Do also make this delicious Oktoberfest potato salad

Photograph © Miredi at fotolia.com

Roast harissa butter chicken and cracked wheat

What do you do if it's a perfect summer day and you still want a Sunday roast? Make this fabulous recipe from Georgie Hayden's wonderful book Stirring Slowly, one of my favourite books of last year

Georgie writes: "This is a perfect Sunday dinner if you want something a little different but still really special. Once you’ve cooked your chicken this way I guarantee you’ll be converted, and any leftover buttery chicken is epic in a sandwich the next day.

Serves 4

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1 preserved lemon

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika

2 tablespoons harissa

a bunch of coriander

a bunch of parsley

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

80g butter, at room temperature

olive oil

1 x 1.6kg chicken

1 lemon

425ml fresh chicken stock

1 onion

2 tomatoes

350g bulgur wheat

Greek yoghurt, to serve

Preheat your oven to 190°C/gas 5. Peel the garlic. Halve the preserved lemon and remove the seeds. In a dry frying pan toast the cumin and coriander seeds until lightly toasted. Place in a food processor along with the paprika, preserved lemon, harissa, half the coriander and parsley (stalks and all) and the garlic. Season well and blitz to a paste. Add the butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and pulse until smooth.

Use your hands to carefully prise the chicken skin away from each breast, to create a pocket. Slash the skin on the thighs and rub the butter all over – under the skin mainly and all over the top. Halve the lemon and pop it into the chicken cavity, then place in a small snug-fitting roasting tray. Put it into the oven and roast for around 1¼ hours, or until golden and crisp but cooked through – check that the juices run clear around the thigh area.

Baste the chicken a couple of times during cooking with the buttery juices in the tray.

When the chicken has about 20 minutes left to cook, start the bulgur wheat. Heat your chicken stock in a medium pan. Meanwhile peel and finely chop the onion, and deseed and finely chop the tomatoes. Pour a glug of olive oil into a saucepan and put on a medium-low heat. Add the onion and sauté for 10 minutes, until soft. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes, then add the bulgur wheat. Stir for a minute, then add the hot chicken stock and season lightly. Bring to the boil, pop onthe lid, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 8 minutes, until the wheat is cooked through and fluffy, then remove from the heat. Cover the pan with a tea towel and put a lid on top to keep it warm. Chop the rest of the coriander and parsley leaves and stir through the bulgur wheat.

When the chicken is ready, leave to rest for 10 minutes, then squeeze over the lemon from the cavity and carve it up – you can carve traditionally or shred the meat into the buttery juices to keep the meat insanely moist.

Serve with the bulgur wheat and tangy thick Greek yoghurt.

What to drink: I'd personally go for a strong dry rosé with this - Spain does some good ones - but you could also drink a medium-bodied juicy Rhône or Languedoc red or even a crisp white like an assyrtiko.

Extracted from Stirring Slowly by Georgina Hayden, published by Square Peg in hardback at £20

Barbecued Chicken with Yellow Mustard Sauce

If you fancy a proper US-style barbecue this weekend try this brilliantly easy recipe from chef Brad McDonald's book Deep South: New Southern Cooking

Brad writes: "You’re going to fall in love with this Carolina- style sauce. I really like its tanginess with the chargrilled chicken skin. It also stands up well to the charred spring onions, which make the perfect garnish for this dish. (Keep any left- over mustard sauce in the fridge – it’s great with sausages.)

Barbecued Chicken with Yellow Mustard Sauce
Serves 4–6

1 free-range chicken, about 1.5kg (3 1⁄4 lb)

100ml (3 1⁄2 fl oz) olive oil

50g (1 3⁄4oz) BBQ rub (see below)

12 spring onions (scallions), trimmed but left whole

a little vegetable oil

sea salt

For the yellow mustard sauce:

250g (9oz) French’s yellow mustard

120ml (4fl oz) cider vinegar

85g (3oz) light soft brown sugar

1⁄4 tsp paprika

1⁄4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1⁄4 tsp cayenne pepper

1⁄4 tsp freshly ground
black pepper

First spatchcock the chicken: put it breast-side down on a board and, using a pair of poultry scissors, cut out the backbone. Turn the bird over and press down gently on the breast bone, then splay the chicken open. Season with salt on both sides. Make a paste with the olive oil and the BBQ rub and coat the bird all over with it. Leave to marinate for 3–4 hours or overnight.

Place the bird skin-side down on a barbecue grill and cook over a medium heat until tender and cooked through. Turn once and move to a lower heat if nec- essary to prevent scorching. If using a thermometer to check the temperature, pull the bird off the heat at 65°C/150°F. Leave to rest for 15–20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: put all the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly with a whisk.

Toss the spring onions in enough vegetable oil to coat, then place on the barbecue and cook until lightly charred.

Carve off the chicken legs and thighs, then carve the white meat from the bone. Brush the sauce over the meat. Garnish with the grilled spring onions and serve with the rest of the sauce on the side.

For the rub:

125g (4 1⁄2 oz) paprika

15g (1⁄2 oz) onion powder

15g (1⁄2 oz) garlic powder

15g (1⁄2 oz) chilli flakes (red pepper flakes)

15g (1⁄2 oz) crushed black pepper

7g (1⁄4 oz) dried oregano

Mix everything together, use what you need for the recipe and keep the rest in a sealed jar

What to drink: Personally I'd go for a craft beer like a pale ale or IPA with this but you could go for a fruity red like a merlot, grenache or tempranillo or a not-too-oaky chardonnay if you prefer a white

From Deep South by Brad McDonald (Quadrille £25) Photograph © Andy Sewell