Often, when I go out to a restaurant, I get pretty much disappointed with the cuisine. While the presentation is mostly great, the taste of the dishes can be just not good enough for me. Each and every such time I’m thinking that I could do it better not in terms of a great presentation, but in terms of feelings I would get with my taste receptors. So, this time it’s again not about something fancy, but still a recipe of another extremely delicious dish.

Ingredients

For this dish you will need:

Whole chicken (better organic one, the one I had was ~2kg);
Salt;
Bottle (some glass bottle (milk, beer, or wine, if it fits the oven you have) or even a large beer can.

(later you might want to season the chicken with lemon juice or spices or even mayonnaise, but first better try it like I say and you won’t be disappointed)

To cook country style potatoes you will need:

Potatoes (better with thin skin, up to 2kg or ~4-5lb);
Herbs (I prefer Italian herbs, but it’s up to you);
Olive oil;
Salt;
Garlic.

Cooking

Wash the chicken carefully (I’ve heard that it might be unsafe to wash the chicken, because some bacteria could be spread over the kitchen, so I would recommend doing it carefully in the sink and then clean up that place thoroughly). Season chicken generously with salt and sprinkle some good amount inside too. Take a glass bottle (remove any stickers or paper and clean it thoroughly) and fill it with water (preferably hot), or alternatively you can take a beer (soda) bottle or a large can (not empty, don’t drink it all, add water if you couldn’t resist) and then tell me how it tasted. A bottle (or can) should be tall enough to hold the chicken upright. Put chicken on the bottle with the legs down (better if it doesn’t touch the bottom of the tray), so it would be sitting and place in the middle of the tray in oven preheated to 160°C (more or less). Steam from the bottle cooks chicken inside too, so it really gets tasty inside and really crispy outside.

Meanwhile take your potatoes (no need to peel, if these are thin skin) and cut them into halves or quarters (four equal pieces) lengthwise. Mix with herbs, olive oil (generous amount), salt and put into the tray around the bottle with the chicken.

It’s fine to leave the chicken in the oven for at least an hour, but you must shuffle potatoes from time to time, so these wouldn’t be burnt. When potatoes are almost done sprinkle with some minced garlic over them. Cook the chicken until it gets golden and the meat pulls away from the bones.