Whole Chicken with Black Garlic Salmoriglio
Ingredients:
1 whole, size 13 chicken
Brine:
- 2 l water
- 100g table salt (5%)
- 20g brown sugar (1%)
Spice Marinade
- 5g coriander seeds
- 5g fennel seeds
- 5g dried oregano
- 5g white peppercorns
- 1/2 lemon, zested
Black garlic salmoriglio:
- 2 bunches oregano, picked
- 1 bunch parsley, picked
- 2 cloves black garlic*
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 long green chilli, sliced
- 150ml extra virgin olive oil
Method:
For the chicken:
- Pat dry the chicken and turn over, breast side down on the board. Starting at the tail, run your shears up each side of the spine and cut out the backbone.
- Turn the chicken breast side up, then press down in the middle of the breastbone with the base of the palm of your hand. You'll hear a crack from the breastbone, and that should allow the chicken to splay.
- In a large bowl, mix the salt, sugar, and water until dissolved. Place chicken into the brine and let sit in the fridge for a minimum of five hours.
- Take out of brine and place onto a wire rack with a tray underneath. Leave in fridge uncovered overnight.
For the spice mix:
- In a small pan, gently toast the coriander seeds, fennel seeds, and white peppercorns until fragrant. Cool.
- Place spices into a spice grinder and grind until fine.
- Mix with lemon zest and dried oregano. Liberally cover the chicken skin with the spice mix.
For the black garlic salmoriglio:
- In a food processor, place the fresh oregano, parsley, green chilli, garlic, black garlic, and lemon zest and blend until fine.
- Mix in the lemon juice and olive oil and season with salt to taste. Adjust with more lemon juice if needed.
Cooking your chicken:
- Grill over a charcoal BBQ or pan fry skin side down first, for 15 minutes each side, or until the flesh is moist but cooked through, and the skin is golden. Using a heavy weight or press will result in golden crispy skin.
- Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, carve up the chicken into 4 pieces, with liberal servings of the black garlic salmoriglio and a good helping of quality extra virgin olive oil.
*Black garlic can be sourced from your local market.
Studio Amaro
168 Chapel Street, Windsor
