Greek Chicken and Potatoes

Greek Chicken and Potatoes

One tray, 1 hr 20, 180°C, serves 4

Ingredients

chicken thighs   8, bone in skin on
potatoes         1.2kg, in thick wedges
lemons           2, juice
garlic           6 cloves, crushed
dried oregano    2 tbsp
olive oil        100ml
chicken stock    250ml
salt and pepper  to season

Skin on the potatoes. They go soft underneath and crisp at the edges.

Recipe

1. Heat the oven to 180°C.

2. Into the dish and toss it all together:

[potatoes 1.2kg in wedges, garlic 6 cloves crushed, dried oregano 2 tbsp, olive oil 100ml, lemons 2 juiced, chicken stock 250ml]

3. Sit the chicken on top, skin side up. Salt the skin hard.

The chicken fat renders down into the potatoes. That is the whole dish.
The 250ml is a guide, not a ratio. The liquid should come roughly halfway up the potatoes and stay below the skin. Too deep and you boil the potatoes instead of roasting them.
Top up with a splash of hot water at the halfway baste if the tray is running dry.

4. Oven, no lid, 1 hour 15 minutes.

No lid at all. Anything covered steams and you get pale skin and wet potatoes.

The long bake is for the potatoes, not the chicken. Thighs hit 75°C in about 45 minutes, so they finish well done rather than juicy. That is how this dish works, the fat renders out into the potatoes.
Want the chicken juicier: give the potatoes 30 minutes on their own first, then sit the chicken on and roast 45.
Thighs take it, breast does not. Don’t swap.

5. Baste the chicken once halfway through.

Serve straight from the dish with the lemony juices spooned over.