Cookbook Challenge: Week 42, Bird

Harissa and yoghurt baked chicken Harissa and yoghurt baked chicken

Recipe: Harissa and yoghurt baked chicken
From: Simple essentials: Chicken

The theme for this week’s Cookbook Challenge is “bird”. While I had grand ideas of doing duck, turkey or quail, it didn’t eventuate and I stuck with the common chook. But we had duck for dinner last night! Does that count? (No, no, I guess it doesn’t.)

It took me a while to decide on this recipe – this particular cookbook has fairly simple chicken recipes, and only chicken recipes. In the end I opted for this one because it meant I could pop it in the oven and go do something else while it cooked. Also because I recently purchased a jar of harissa and wanted to use it!

I’m a big fan of using yoghurt as a marinade, because it keeps meat very moist, and seems to have a slight tenderizing effect. I added a big tablespoon of honey to the original recipe, which was great and I’m sure contributed to the crisp edges (they look quite burnt, but actually it was perfect). The harissa didn’t come through very strongly though, so I would suggest adding more if you want to give it a shot – at least 2 tablespoons.

I’m sure that I’ll be adding a variation of this dish to my weeknight cooking repertoire – it’s quick and easy to prepare plus it’s tasty! Excellent.

See previous Cookbook Challenge posts here.

Harissa and yoghurt baked chicken

Harissa and yoghurt baked chicken

Adapted from Simple essentials: Chicken

Serves 4

1.6kg chicken quartered
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 cup thick plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon harissa
2 teaspoons ground cumin
salt and pepper
green salad and lemon wedges to serve

Cut slits into your chicken pieces. In a bowl, mix together the cornflour, yoghurt, honey, harissa, and cumin, and salt and pepper to taste.

Spread the yoghurt all over the chicken pieces, rubbing it into the cuts. Leave it to marinate for at least an hour (I left mine in the fridge overnight).

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the chicken pieces on a rack in a baking dish, and bake for about 25-35 minutes, or until cooked.

Serve warm with a green salad and a squeeze of lemon.