Chicken. Potatoes. Gravy…enough said!

"Quarantine Cooking"

The much-requested recipe from my Instagram stories; I am always making this easy dinner, and everyone is always asking for the recipe. Without further adieu, I bring to you an unbelievably delicious chicken and potato dinner. The gag is… you think the chicken will be the star of the show, but the potatoes shoot in from second place for a photo finish. Turns out they end up being the best potatoes you ever ate.

Well maybe not the best potatoes you ever had, but they might be the best potatoes you ever cook! Funny thing is, there is really nothing special about them. They are not crispy, which for me is the holy grail of potato textures. However, what they lack in crisp they sure make up for in flavor. The potatoes act as a sponge sucking up the chicken juices, the coconut milk, the onions, garlic, ginger, scallions, thyme, just a flavor bomb literally.

Do not be mistaken, the chicken is quite good; flavorful, tender, and extremely juicy even the breast. You have the option to smother in gravy or serve with the crispy skin. I mean, its chicken, you cannot go wrong when it's seasoned and properly cooked.  I have made this dish so many times, my father loves it. Sometimes I grill the chicken to add a smokey flavor to the dish, but the majority of the time I sear it like in this recipe.

Speaking of properly seasoned, let’s talk chicken seasonings. As you will already know if you follow my blog and see the way I season meat. its always with a dry-rub, sometimes with oil, sometimes a brine. This chicken does not need a brine. I make an oil-based marinade that it sits in for at least 8 to 24 hours. In the past, I would make my marinade (which tends to be dark because of the ground pimento and black pepper) I would place it under the skin of the chicken. However, when its seared it was always making the chicken look too dark because the skin becomes transparent and all the seasonings would show through. With that in mind, I developed a new way to season it. I do a salt/sugar oil mix under the skin, then the dark seasonings on the outer portions of the skin. Worked like a charm!

Ingredients (printable recipe)

1 whole chicken

4-5 large potatoes

½  cup chopped tomatoes

½  cup chopped sweet peppers

½ cup chopped onions

4 sprigs thyme

½ cup chopped scallion

1 teaspoon allspice berries

3 tablespoon shredded ginger

1 tablespoon shredded garlic

1 scotch bonnet pepper

1 teaspoon Salt or a bouillon cube (to taste)

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 can coconut milk

1.5 cup of water

3 tablespoon coconut oil

For the marinade

2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Black pepper

¼ cup Oil

2 tablespoon Onion powder

1 tablespoon Allspice berries ground

½ teaspoon Soy sauce

1 teaspoon vinegar

Greedy Tips: 

• Make sure you have a very sharp knife to cut through the backbone. I don’t remove the backbones anymore, in the past, I used to cut them out and save them for stock. But I find there is no need to cut it out (plus I love the bones)
• You need a big enough wide skillet that can hold all the potatoes and a whole chicken. If you don’t have a big enough pan you can make all the items but transfer to an oven-safe baking dish or foil pan to cook in the oven

Instructions

• Clean and wash the chicken
• Take a sharp knife and cut along the backbone and spread the chicken out
• Spread the chicken open and remove the chest bone so that between the two breasts is only meat.
• For the marinade, you will need two small bowls
• In the first combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and half the oil
• Use this underneath the skin of the chicken the breast and thighs
• In the second combine, 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar, half the oil soy sauce, onion powder, black pepper, smoked paprika, vinegar
• Use this on the outside of the chicken rubbing it all over back and front making sure to get It into all the nooks and crannies
• Place in a pan and cover with foil or plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours
• When ready to cook remove the chicken from the refrigerator and allow it to come to as close to room temp as possible, you do not want to sear cold chicken.
• Peel the potatoes cut into 1 to 2-inch chunks and set aside in cold water
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In a pot add coconut oil and heat up medium-high heat.
• Place the chicken in and sear skin side down until golden
• Flip and sear the other side until it is also brown and golden
• Remove the chicken from the oil
• Add all the veggies, tomato, onion, scallion, thyme, garlic, ginger, hot pepper sweet pepper allspice. Saute until fragrant and the veggies begin to soften
• Add the coconut milk, water, strained potatoes, bouillon or salt and sugar bring to a boil
• Once its boiling place the chicken on top, pop it in the oven uncovered and cook for 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes. You want the chicken to be fall off the bone tender with crispy skin, the sauce should be reduced and the potatoes fully cooked.
• When the chicken is cooked remove from the oven, set the chicken and spoon out the potatoes into your serving tray. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
• If the remaining sauce is thick enough to your liking use an oil separator to skim off the excess fat and strain the gravy until smooth, serve overtop the potatoes and chicken
• If the sauce has not reduced enough, return it to the stove and cook it down until it has reduced. Then skim the oil and strain all the remnants so a smooth silky sauce remains. Slice the chicken into parts. If you prefer crispy skin serve the sauce on the side with the potatoes and chicken
• If you like the chicken smothered in gravy place the chicken on top of the potatoes and pour the sauce over everything and let it seep in.
• Enjoy! 

Xoxo Greedygirl