"The chicken will cook on its own" roast.

This recipe goes specially to my best friend and greatest fan, Darkmoona, because she always reads, comments, has tried many of the recipes, is a great beta taster, and chicken is her favourite meat, almost as much as finding something that's as easy and fast to cook as it is tasty. So, hope you like it!

You can make almost everything with chicken: rice, pasta, roasted, boiled, fried, grilled, battered... So let's start with the basics. My easy as pie "Chicken will cook on its own".

Why the name? Well, a few years ago The Yummie Things Brigade (that's my friends and I) were celebrating New Year's Eve in a house in the middle of the mountain, and as per usual, I was in charge of the special dinner. Bad thing that I had been fed martinis, and endless glasses of cava all evening, and was plastered as they come.

The Yummie Things Brigade

I left the chicken alone in the stove and went to the dining room, were the rest of my friends were, and some time later, one of them, Captain Buchannan, came over me and asked, very carefully.

"Mallowie, the chicken?"

I looked at him and answered

"The chicken cooks on its own!"

Surprisingly, it did, and was delicious, so it's become a bit of a joke between us.

This recipe is not the one I made for that time, because it's more complicated and has lots of ingredients. I'll make it again, sober this time, and tell you all about it.

I got the idea from a friend, while we were in Derry during our work experience. A bunch of spanish people gathered on Sundays, to make a more traditional lunch, becoming the family we were missing so far from home, and he made a chicken cooked in a plastic bag and seasoned with the contents of a packet.

Spanish family in Derry

It was easy, and not bad, but I'm always going on and on about how important is to eat fresh things, and how I like the caramelization of proteins in meat... So cook something in a bag wasn't for me.

But it was so easy to season it... The chicken was flavoured all around, and not just the outside, and was tender, and juicy. Had to think of a way to achieve the same thing without depending on a packet and cooking something inside of a bag.

Armed with one of my best friends, Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, went to the meats chapter and began to read. And after some fumbling came across with this recipe. I first made it for my parents, and loved it. Even though I don't live with them anymore, I know for a fact that they're still doing it!

So, sleeves rolled up, and let's get working (but not much, I promise)

THE CHICKEN THAT COOKS ON ITS OWN

INGREDIENTS:

4 pieces of chicken (I like the tighs)
3 medium sized potatoes
1 lemon
1 garlic clove
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt, pepper, and the herbs you like for season it.

For one person: 3 small drumsticks, medium potato and around 3 tablespoons of seasoning

PROCEDURE:

- Wash the potatoes thoroughly and cut them lengthwise in half, then in half again, and each half in bite size chunks (around three each one?)

- Place them in a plastic bag, any clean one without holes is ok.
- Put the chicken pieces inside of the bag.

- Crush the garlic clove and place the resulting pulp in the bag.
- Squeeze the lemon inside of the bag, I usually leave the casks of the lemon in as well.
- Season to taste and add the olive oil.

- Tie the bag and rub all the contents together, until the chicken and potatoes are well covered.
- Leave it to rest as long as you can. I often put the chicken frozen and leave it overnight in the fridge.
- Preheat your oven to 200ºC
- Place the contents of the bag in a baking tray.

- Roast for about 30 minutes, keeping an eye on the chicken and potatoes and turning them around if you think is needed.
- Take out from the oven, serve and tuck in!

Hope you enjoy it!