WHOLE BBQ CHICKEN WITH  ROSEVAL POTATOES, FRIED ONION AND BACON

WHOLE BBQ CHICKEN WITH  ROSEVAL POTATOES, FRIED ONION AND BACON

For about 4 people

Not all food has to be wild, of course. This recipe is actually not very challenging in execution, but it is a real family meal. Even with fussier eaters, this dish is a hit, because who doesn't love chicken? The WildFood poultry rub really gives the chicken a different twist that will be really appreciated by everyone. I myself am very enthusiastic about this spice mix because of the wide applicability and the typical taste that it will give to your dishes. Challenging, but not so much that it's too much for the less adventurous eaters among us. I would also like to emphasize once again that it pays to spend a little more money for a nice well raised chicken. Preferably free-range for example. The difference in quality is really noticeable and well worth the extra money. You will definitely taste the difference. This easy-to-execute recipe is sure to provide you with plenty of table fun. A real cozy meal to share with a delicious portion of fried onions and bacon to top it off. Who doesn't love it?

INGREDIENTS

• A whole chicken, preferably free range
• Roseval potatoes, 1 kilo
• Wild Food - Poultry Rub
• Onion, 3 pieces
• Bacon strips, about 300 grams
• Thyme, about 20 sprigs
• Pepper and salt
• Garlic, 2 cloves
• Olive oil

NECESSETIES

• Cast iron skillet or oven dish
• BBQ with lid and indirect heating option
• Heat shield for kamado use core thermometer
• Cutting board
• Knives
• Pan, preferably cast iron
• Smoke wood, pellets or chips. Wood type of your choice

PRE PREPARATION

• Find a nice whole chicken. Preferably a free-range or free-range chicken and cut the strings that hold the wings and legs in place.
• Score the chicken on the legs. This is allowed up to the bone, this way you shorten the preparation time of the legs and you prevent that you eventually have cooked fillets and raw legs. This trick ensures that all parts are ready at about the same time. An additional advantage of this is that the flavors of the herbs and the charcoal flavors penetrate into the meat.
• Pierce the chicken fillets with, for example, a toothpick. This offers the same advantage as cutting the legs. This allows the smoke and the taste of the rub to penetrate the skin.
• Sprinkle the chicken generously with the Wild Poultry rub. An other chicken spice mix of your choice is of course no problem for this preparation, it is just a case of what you like best.
• Cut the roseval potatoes into approximately 1 centimeter thick slices and boil them briefly until they are al dente.
• Peel the onions and cut them into half rings.
• Peel the garlic cloves and chop them finely.

PREPARATION

• Fire up the BBQ and preheat the grill grate well.
• Mix the pre-cooked potato wedges with some olive oil and the chopped garlic and mix well.
• Grill the potatoes on the well-heated grill rack. This is of course not necessarily necessary, but it does provide a nice flavor addition for the barbecue enthusiast. Alternatively, you could fry the potatoes just fine in the pan.
• Place the pan on the BBQ with direct heat and make sure the pan is very hot. I personally prefer to work with cast iron pans. Cast iron pans really give extra depth to the taste. This gives an extra nice result, especially with fried onions.
• Fry the bacon strips in the hot pan until golden brown, but do not fry them completely crispy.
• Remove the bacon from the pan and fry the onions in the bacon fat until golden brown in the pan. The cast iron is now really going to show its advantage.
• Mix the fried onions, fried bacon, the thyme sprigs and the grilled potatoes and divide this all over the skeleton or oven dish.
• Place the chicken on top of this.

• Place the heat shield when using a kamado, and ensure a  temperature of 120 degrees in the BBQ.
• Of course, this dish can be prepared the same way in the kitchen oven.
• Loosening the elastic strings from the chicken earlier ensures that the meat gets more space and therefore gets more contact with the hot air flows. So it will be easier to cook.
• Place the thermometer in the chicken breasts. Not quite in the middle but slightly more towards the carcass.
• This is because a chicken prepared in this way cooks from the outside in. The fillets are therefore not cooked on both sides.
• Set the thermometer to a core temperature of 67 degrees.
• Sprinkle some smoking wood pellets or chips over the just-burning charcoal and place the chicken dish on the BBQ. We ourselves used apple smoking wood for this preparation. Adding smoking wood is certainly not necessary, but gives the dish some extra depth in the form of smoke flavor. If you don't like this, don't do this! Again, it's just a matter of taste. If you choose to prepare this dish in the oven, for example, adding smoking wood is not an option at all, but this will certainly not make the dish less, but of course something different.
• Cook the chicken until it has reached a core temperature of 67 degrees. This will just be cooked through and is something you have to love.
• Check the chicken for the doneness and whether it is to your liking. If in doubt, the chicken is cooked through. When the cooking is to your liking, serve the chicken and enjoy the meal.