Portuguese-style chicken

Australian Good Taste

Photography by Sue Ferris

• Ingredients

• 2 small (about 550g each) fresh or frozen thawed chickens
• 80ml (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice
• 60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
• 2 tbs sweet paprika
• 2 tbs dried oregano
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 long fresh red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Lemon wedges, to serve

salad

• 1 x 250g pkt red grape tomatoes, washed, halved
• 1 x 80g pkt baby rocket leaves
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 55g (1/3 cup) drained pitted kalamata olives
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

1. Step 1
   Place 1 chicken, breast-side down, on a clean work surface. Use kitchen scissors or poultry shears to cut down both sides of backbone and discard. Turn chicken, breast-side up, and push down to flatten. Tuck wings under. Pat dry with paper towel. Repeat with remaining chicken. Use a knife to make several 5mm deep and 4cm long cuts into chicken meat. Place in a glass or ceramic baking dish.
2. Step 2
   Combine the lemon juice, oil, paprika, oregano, sugar, garlic, chilli and salt in a bowl. Season with pepper. Pour over the chicken and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 6 hours to develop the flavours.
3. Step 3
   Preheat oven to 200°C. Place chicken and marinade in a roasting pan. Roast in oven, basting occasionally with pan juices, for 40 minutes or until brown and juices run clean when chicken is pierced with a skewer. Remove from oven and cover with foil. Set aside for 5 minutes to rest.
4. Step 4
   Meanwhile, to make the salad, place the tomato, rocket, cucumber, onion and olives in a bowl. Place oil, lemon juice and oregano in a screw-top jar and shake to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad and toss to combine.
5. Step 5
   Cut each chicken in half and serve with lemon wedges and salad.
   Australian Good Taste - June 2004 , Page 86
   Recipe by Sarah Hobbs
   taste.com.au