Recipes

Donal Skehan: Buffalo Chicken with Roast Rosemary Chips & Red Cabbage Coleslaw

This dish gives all the salty, fatty, spicy hits that takeaway food can provide, but with easy preparation, and most of the work done in the oven

Donal Skehan
Sat Apr 2 2016 - 02:37
Serves: 4
Course: Main Course
Cooking Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Ingredients
  • Serves 4For the chicken:1 free-range chicken (about 1.1-1.4kg)
  • 110g butter
  • 120ml hot chilli sauce (I use Irish-owned Mic’s Chilli)
  • Half a tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • Half tsp cayenne pepper
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • For the coleslaw:3 carrots, grated
  • Half head of red cabbage, finely chopped or coarsely grated
  • 3 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • A good pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp of mayonnaise
  • For the chips:5 Rooster potatoes, cut into chips
  • 1-2 tbsp of rapeseed oil
  • 4 sprigs of rosemary
  • 1 tbsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp sea salt
  • Serves 4For the chicken:1 free-range chicken (about 1.1-1.4kg)
  • 110g butter
  • 120ml hot chilli sauce (I use Irish-owned Mic’s Chilli)
  • Half a tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • Half tsp cayenne pepper
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • For the coleslaw:3 carrots, grated
  • Half head of red cabbage, finely chopped or coarsely grated
  • 3 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • A good pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp of mayonnaise
  • For the chips:5 Rooster potatoes, cut into chips
  • 1-2 tbsp of rapeseed oil
  • 4 sprigs of rosemary
  • 1 tbsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp sea salt

As Saturday night dinners go, this roast buffalo chicken, spatchcocked for ease of carving, is a real hit and a favourite with myself and my wife, Sofie.

It gives all the salty, fatty, spicy hits that takeaway food can provide, but with easy preparation, and most of the work done in the oven. But you can still feel smug that it’s homemade. For ultimate laziness, skip the parboiling of the potatoes and roast from raw, the results will be almost as good. Preheat an oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Whisk the butter, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt and black pepper together in a saucepan. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes until it is slightly thickened.

Blanch the potato chips in a pot of boiling water for about five minutes, then drain and dry them on a kitchen towel.

To prepare the chicken, place the bird breast-down and, using a knife or a sharp kitchen shears, cut along either side of the back bone to remove it. Open the bird out and flip it over breast-side up and, using your fist, push down hard on the breast to break the bone. Place the flattened chicken in a large flat roasting tin (that will accommodate the chicken and the chips) and pour over half the buffalo sauce, brushing to coat completely. Add the chips and rosemary sprigs around the chicken, and drizzle generously with rapeseed oil. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper and place in the oven to roast for one hour, or until the chicken is cooked all the way through and the juices run clear. Turn the chips halfway through the cooking time.

Add all the ingredients for the slaw to a large bowl and mix together until the carrot and cabbage are evenly coated. Transfer the slaw to a large serving dish, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge until you are ready to serve. It will keep for two to three days in the fridge.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven and portion it into breasts, wings and legs. Warm up the remaining buffalo sauce and brush it over the chicken to serve.

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