Chicken run

Guess what? You could be just four ingredients away from tonight's dinner!

Do you remember the 4 Ingredients cookbooks? They were a big deal for a while back there, selling millions of copies. The authors - “two Queensland mums” - took a time-honoured idea and marketed the absolute hell out of it. Respectfully, these were books for people who found cooking a chore, rather than a joy, and who wanted to assemble meals with the least effort possible. I mean, we’ve all been there, right?

Anyway, I remember wistfully talking to the then-editor of Cuisine magazine in that era about how I wanted to write a book, and she said, in a brutally realistic but also soul-crushing way, that the 4 Ingredients books were the best-selling food titles in Australasia. In other words, she was saying ‘give up, Lucy, you haven’t got a chance’.

All these many years later, it turns out there might be hope for me yet, because last Sunday night I inadvertently cooked something that had just four ingredients. It was so good (she says, modestly), that I think you might like it too.

Old Godmother’s Chicken

Serves 4-6

Strictly speaking, you could make this with just two ingredients, but for the sake of argument I’m using four here. The two key ones are obviously the chicken (the clue is in the name) and the chili crisp. There are lots of these around now, including lots of New Zealand-made ones, but for this purpose I think the OG Lao Gan Ma variety is best (Lao Gan Ma means ‘old godmother’, in case you’re wondering). The fancy-pants local ones tend to be filled with things like sesame or cumin seeds, which will burn horribly in the oven. Note when you’re buying the Lao Gan Ma that there is the peanut one, which I’m using here, and a black bean one. I think the peanut one is far superior (and I haven’t tested making this with the other one so I’m not confident to recommend it).

I used butternut squash because I had one in the cupboard, but you could substitute this with courgettes, or capsicums, or carrots, or pretty much anything.

Cooking time will depend on the size of the chicken. Aim for 45-60 minutes as a rough rule of thumb. While it’s easy to buy a spatchcocked chook now, it’s not that much harder to DIY at home. Use a sharp knife or kitchen scissors and proceed with confidence. Here’s a video showing it’s done.

3 onions, peeled and thickly sliced

1 small butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and sliced (or alternative vegetable as suggested above)

1 x spatchcocked chicken, any flappy fat removed, skin patted dry with paper towels

3 Tbsp Lao Gan Ma chili crisp

Heat the oven to 200C. Scatter the onions and squash in a small roasting dish big enough to fit the chicken.

Put the flattened chicken on top, skin side up. Rub the chili crisp all over the chicken, including underneath. (Unless you’ve worn gloves to do this, now’s when you can have a Lady Macbeth moment washing the chili crisp residue off your hands.)

Roast the chicken for 45-60 minutes, until cooked through. Remove chicken and vegetables to a plate, cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Serve with crusty bread or rice (stir the onions and squash through the rice before serving) and a crunchy green salad.

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Good Things

Little Bird

I’m no beer expert, but that’s not going to stop me from recommending this low-alcohol IPA from Emerson’s, which tastes more like beer and less like soapy dishwater than many others. Plus, it goes well with the chicken described above.

The Homemade God

I wouldn’t recommend this if you’re recently bereaved or amidst a family fall-out, but I was gripped by this tale of what happens to four siblings when their larger-than-life artist father marries a mysterious younger woman and then drops dead. Strong start, emotionally tortuous middle, excellent ending.

The moon watchers

Everything I know about Ramadan I have learned from my very talented and generous colleague Isra’a. This carefully researched and told story explains the role of the moon-sighting ceremony in divining when Ramadan begins.

Thanks for joining me here. Hope you have an excellent week ahead x