Pretty pollie chicken

It’s election day in Australia, and in honour of the rubber chicken sandwiches all politicians endure at fundraising barbecues, here is a super recipe for a tender, juicy, tasty bird. All you pollies out there, this is how your fundraisers can step up!

I had a bunch of friends over for Sunday barbecue a couple of weeks back, with queso blanco dip and paprika yogurt chicken the main features, along with barbecue fried haloumi, grilled octopus, and salads (salads contributed by my excellent guests!)

It’s always very gratifying when someone asks a “how did you?” question. In this instance: “How did you get the chicken so juicy?”

Well, here it is.

Recipe: Barbecue paprika yogurt chicken

Ingredients

1 chicken

Marinade

• 2 cloves garlic
• Juice .5 lemon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon tahini
• 2 teaspoons smokey paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons yogurt

Method

This can be done either with a butterflied chicken or with chicken pieces. For barbecues, I prefer cutting the chicken into pieces, giving me one less job at serving time.

For barbecuing and casserole, I tend to leave the breast bones on rather than fillet the breast.

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl. Then dip each chicken piece in one at a time, making sure each piece is thoroughly covered, then transfer chicken pieces to an oven dish, and cover.

Place in the fridge for at least 3 hours, but overnight is best.

About an hour before cooking, remove the chicken from the fridge to that it returns to room temperature.

Heat barbecue grill on high and preheat. The way you tell if it’s ready is to place your hand about 10 centimetres above the grill and, if it ouches after about 4 seconds, it’s ready. This is also a good way of mapping the hotter and cooler sections of your grill.

Now, here’s the secret! Preheat oven to 150°.

Before placing the chicken on the barbie, wipe of excess marinade with a paper towel. I sometimes forget, or am too lazy, to do this, but I always regret it, as the extra fat in the yogurt can make the chicken prone to flare-ups.

Place the chicken pieces on the grill, skin side down, with the wings on the cooler spots of the grill. Once on the grill for a few seconds, give the pieces a gentle shift, to keep them from sticking. Barbecue covered for about 5 minutes each side, turning once.

While the chicken is cooking, give your oven dish a thorough clean.

Once the chicken is done, place the pieces into the oven dish, cover, and pop it into the oven to finish off - about 15 minutes.

And there you have it, tender, juicy, tasty chicken (and rich juices in the dish) ready for the plates of happy guests!