Buffalo roast chicken with a blue cheese salad recipe

Prepare: less than 30 mins
Cook: 1 to 2 hours
Serve: Serves 4
Dietary: Nut-free Pregnancy-friendly

This spicy buffalo-style spatchcocked chicken is roasted until golden and served with herby potatoes, a crisp celery and lettuce salad and creamy blue cheese dressing.

By Donal Skehan

From Saturday Kitchen

Shopping list

Ingredients

For the chicken

1.2kg/2lb 10oz free-range corn-fed chicken
2 tbsp sunflower oil
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper

For the potatoes

1kg/2lb 4oz baby potatoes, halved if large
3 tbsp olive oil
2 rosemary sprigs, needles stripped
2 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped

For the sauce

100g/3½oz unsalted butter
200ml/7fl oz hot chilli sauce
½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper

For the salad and dressing

150g/5½oz blue cheese, crumbled
3 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp mayonnaise
½ lemon, juice only
3 celery sticks with leaves, finely sliced
1 baby gem lettuce, leaves separated and sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
To prepare the chicken, put it breast-side down on a board. Using sturdy kitchen scissors or poultry shears, cut down either side of the backbone and remove it. Open out the chicken and turn it breast-side up. Press firmly down on the breastbone to flatten it.
Put the chicken in a large roasting tin. Drizzle with the sunflower oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the smoked paprika and cayenne pepper and rub into the chicken. Roast for 45–50 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. The chicken is cooked through when the juices run clear with no trace of pink when the thickest part is pierced with a skewer.
For the potatoes, put the potatoes in a roasting tray and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, add the rosemary and thyme and toss to coat. Roast alongside the chicken for 35 minutes, or until cooked through and golden.
For the sauce, put the butter, hot chilli sauce, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper in a saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
Swap the roasting tin and potato tray around halfway through cooking if needed so they colour evenly.
When the chicken is cooked, brush generously with some of the sauce.
For the blue cheese dressing, mash 100g/3½oz of the blue cheese with the sour cream, mayonnaise and lemon juice using a fork until smooth.
Put the celery and baby gem lettuce in a serving bowl.
Cut the chicken into breasts, wings and legs and drizzle with any remaining sauce. Serve with the potatoes and salad, spoon over the blue cheese dressing and scatter with the remaining 50g/1¾oz blue cheese.