Chicken skewers with lemon-roasted potatoes and whipped feta
Another epic potato recipe from potato queen Poppy O'Toole. Perfect with chicken skewers and a feta dressing for a brilliant summer meal.
Ingredients
For the lemon and herb chicken
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- ½ bulb garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp clear honey
- 1 tbsp chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp flaky sea salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 3 large chicken breasts, cubed
For the potatoes
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 Maris Piper potatoes, skin on and sliced into 2cm/¾in rounds
- 1 tbsp salt, for the cooking water, plus extra to season
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 100ml/3½fl oz chicken stock
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp fine semolina (optional)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- pinch black pepper
For the feta dressing
- 100g/3½oz feta, broken into pieces
- 1 lemon, juice only
- pinch flaky salt
- pinch cracked black pepper
- about 100ml/3½fl oz light olive oil
To serve
Method
To make the lemon and herb chicken, mix the lemon juice and zest, garlic, honey, chilli, sea salt, olive oil, crushed peppercorns, rosemary and thyme together in a bowl. Add the chicken chunks and stir to allow the mixture to coat the chicken. Cover and leave to marinate for 1 hour.
If you are cooking the chicken on the barbecue, heat the barbecue to have it ready in time.
To make the potatoes, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Spoon the vegetable oil into a baking tray large enough to fit the potato slices in a single layer and put this in the oven to get hot.
Place the potatoes in a pan and just cover with water. Add the salt and place over a high heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes, or until tender.
Drain the potatoes in a colander, then suspend the colander in the potato pan and cover with a clean tea towel for about 10 minutes, or until the potatoes have steamed off and dried out a bit. Then, give the potatoes a toss in the colander so that they break down a little on the sides.
Remove the hot baking tray from the oven and tip in the tatties. Give them a stir to coat them in the oil, then roast for 30 minutes, until part-cooked.
In that time, mix the lemon juice, chicken stock, oregano, semolina and garlic in a small bowl.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and turn the heat up to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Pour the lemony liquid over the potatoes and give them a mix, then return them to the oven for a further 30 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper.
To make the feta dressing, put the feta, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a mini-processor if you have one. Otherwise, put them in a small bowl and use a whisk. Blend or whisk until almost smooth. Trickle in the olive oil, mixing continuously, until you have a creamy, thick dressing that's ready for anything! You may not need all the oil.
To finish the chicken, thread the chicken pieces onto skewers and cook either on a barbecue or in a hot griddle pan. Cook for 8–10 minutes, until golden-brown and cooked through, brushing with honey occasionally
To serve, divide the rocket among four serving plates, add the feta dressing, potatoes and skewers. Finish with a pinch of chilli flakes, crumbled feta (if using) and a drizzle of honey. Serve.
