Seizing the first warm day of the year (but not the first cook) I went for a Brown Sugar, Garlic and Tarragon brined chicken, cooked on the Joetisserie over applewood. Sides were Hand and Flowers carrots as adapted by the Le Cordon Bong and some classic roast potatoes.
I’m a big fan of pairing barbecue with tastes and techniques from fine dining, and Tom Kerridge’s two Michelin-starred pub The Hand and Flowers doesn’t disappoint. This kind of pairing can be as simple as a béarnaise sauce or more developed as with this side.
The Recipe
This cook is simple but a little time-consuming. The sides are cooked on the hob and in the oven, you can use the barbecue or a gas grill outside. After the brine, and once the chicken is on the barbecue the sides will run, well, alongside. Make sure to keep an eye on your temperatures if you’re also cooking indoors.
Ingredients
- Chicken
-
Tarragon, Brown Sugar and Garlic Brine – 5l (or a similar brine).
- Hand and Flowers Carrots
-
Medium to small carrots, one to two per person.
-
Unsalted Butter – 125g
-
Caster Sugar – 75g
-
Star Anise – 2 whole
-
Water – 300ml
- Roast Potatoes
-
Maris Piper (or similar) potatoes – 1kg
-
Olive Oil – enough to cover the bottom of your roasting tin
-
Sea Salt – 1 tablespoon
-
Pepper – 1 tablespoon
Chicken
I brined the chicken for around 18 hours, a bit less than normal. The recipe for the brine is here. I used the Joetisserie over direct heat, keeping the temperature at around 170C. I added two small chunks of apple wood for a light smoke.
Directions
- Make the chicken brine and leave to brine for 24-hours or as long as you can over 12-hours.
- Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Keep in the fridge until you’re all setup to cook.
- Setup your barbecue for direct grilling, with a small to medium amount of charcoal. This should be raked out across the grill, and be kept at a temperature of roughly 150C.
- Add a small amount of apple wood and leave for 15 minutes. You want to see the white smoke start to die down.
- Add the chicken to the spit ensuring that the claws engage well. Set the spit into the barbecue.
- Keep the lid closed and monitor the temperature at around 160C, as well as taking the temperature of the chicken. Once the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 75C in the thickest part of the breast take if off the barbecue.
- Wrap the chicken in heavy duty foil and leave it to rest until the sides are done.
As with all barbecue cooks there is no set time for the chicken, it’ll done when it’s done. Use a thermometer to check the chicken temperature.
I rest the chicken wrapped in heavy duty foil, a towel and inside a cool box. This will maintain the temperature for a considerable time. If you don’t have a cool box then towels or a blanket are good substitutes.
Carrots
This has to be one of my favourite recipes for carrots at the moment. A simple glaze of butter, sugar and star anise for real depth of flavour. I won’t reproduce it here, but I recommend you follow it from the Le Cordon Bong website.
I tweaked the recipe from Le Cordon Bong and only added two star anise as more can be overpowering. You may need to up the water due to some chunkier carrots.
I recommend subscribing to the Le Cordon Bong newsletter. It’s a great mix of fine dining recipes.
Roast Potatoes
The secret to good roast potatoes is light parboiling; allowing the potatoes to dry in their own steam and cool; and hot oil in a hot pan. I cooked these at 200C in a fan oven. You can do them on the barbecue, using indirect heat. You should end up with glass-like outsides and fluffy insides.
Directions
- Peel the potatoes and cut into medium equal size pieces. You want a good size to have fluffy insides, but with a good range of edges to get crispy.
- Par-boil the potatoes in salted water for 5 to 10 minutes. They should be softened on the outside but resist when prodded with a fork.
- Drain the potatoes and allow them to completely dry in their own steam.
- Once you’re ready to cook the potatoes heat the oven to 200C. Heat a roasting tray large enough to hold the potatoes in a single layer with some gaps.
- Add a good amount of Olive Oil to the tray and heat it in the oven. The oil should cover the bottom of the tray.
- Once the oil is hot add the potatoes, taking care as the oil will spit. Add sea salt and finely ground pepper over the potatoes then carefully shake the tray to coat them in oil.
- Roast the potatoes for around 45 minutes to an hour. Times will vary on the size of the potatoes and your oven. Once they are golden brown all over, with darker edges and corners they are done.
The Tools
When making this recipe I use a Joetisserie on a Kamado Joe Classic II. I use my usual probe thermometer, and the thermometer in the Kamado. This can be a little inaccurate but a wireless thermometer feels like overkill (a wired one would get tangled around the spit, and I don’t need a very accurate read inside the Kamado here).
| Heat Source | Direct |
| Charcoal | Alderline Lumpwood |
| Barbecue Surface Temperature | 170C |
| Meat Temperature | 76C |
* Disclaimer: I may get commissions for purchases made through links on this page. I always try to be clear where I use a specific item, and don’t recommend anything I don’t use myself.
