Food is emotional.
The success of a dish is as much about the way it tastes as the way it makes you feel. Like snuggling up under a warm blanket at the end of an extremity-numbing winter day, this Harissa Tamari roasted chicken is cozy and comforting. Umami tamari and savory harissa hug the edges of moist chicken, served with crispy shallot potatoes and finished with a tangy cumin kefir yogurt. This dish is perfectly timed for what can be a difficult time of the year: days are shorter and darker, and with the holiday season behind us, we begin the count down to the arrival of Spring here in the North East. It’s the time of the year when most of us cling to the hopes of a snow day, so we can stay under the covers just a little bit longer. Whether you’re someone who revels in the frosty temperatures of late January, or someone who despises it, this dish is guaranteed to warm you on even the coldest days.
Salt your chicken and soak your potatoes while you cuddle up (under those aforementioned blankets). This dish is incredibly versatile: play with plating and you can make it work for the most casual or most impressive dinner party. For the former, serve everything on parchment paper: cut the meat off the bones and place on top of the roasted potatoes. Put out with tongs, extra yogurt sauce, good olive oil, fresh arugula, lemon wedges and flaky salt, and your guests can make themselves a plate. For the latter, allow the stunning red harissa to make a statement on white serveware: drizzle with yogurt and serve similarly with a simple side salad. P.S. it’s also totally cool if you plan to eat this all by yourself! The luscious crispy potatoes in this recipe have been amended from my original writing, and are now credited to this original recipe from Christine Gallary, but with a slight change and the addition of shallots.
Harissa Tamari Roasted Chicken with Crispy Potatoes and Cumin Yogurt
Serves 2
2 chicken legs, bone-in (you can also use either bone-in thigh or drumstick)
3/4 lb red potatoes
2 Tbsps New York Shuk Preserved Lemon Harissa (available for purchase in NY here and online here)
1 Tbsp Tamari
2 lemons
2 large shallots
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 goat milk Kefir (I use Redwood Hill Farm available here, and you can always sub plain greek yogurt)
Extra virgin olive oil
Neutral oil, like avocado, canola, sunflower, safflower, etc
Kosher salt
Maldon salt, if available
Cast iron or stainless steel oven-friendly pan, 8-10 inches
Cast iron or stainless steel pan, 10-12 inches
Preheat your oven to 375F.
In a mixing bowl combine1/2 tbsp salt, 2 Tbsps New York Shuk Preserved Lemon Harissa, 1 Tbsp tamari, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, and just shy of 1/4 tsp both smoked paprika and cumin. Mix well. Then add chicken to the bowl and rub sauce into the meat, making sure to get it under the skin. Leave chicken in the marinade up to 1 hour but at least 15 minutes, either in your fridge if your kitchen is hot, or out in a cool place like near the window.
Clean and cut potatoes in half, cut across if the potato is more oblong, vs cutting from top to bottom. This is to keep pieces as evenly sized as possible. Place potatoes in a bowl with cold water while your chicken marinates. Red potatoes are a less starchy variety to begin with, but soaking will remove some of what starch there is, so they stay more firm.
In the meantime, cut 2 shallots across into rounds, making sure not to cut them too thin. You can save the ends and skin to use in stock! Set aside.
When you’re ready to cook, we’ll start by searing the chicken skin: heat 1-2 Tbsps neutral oil in your stainless steel pan over medium high heat (enough to cover the bottom of the pan). Please note that you must use an oven-safe stainless steel pan or other high-temp, oven safe pan like cast iron because we will finish cooking the chicken in the oven.
When oil is shimmering, let excess marinade drip off chicken and place skin side down in the pan. It should sizzle upon contact. If it doesn’t, remove chicken and wait another minute or so. If the oil spits back at you, lower the heat a bit. Cook until the skin is golden and releases easily from the bottom of the pan - 5 minutes but not much longer so as to avoid burning spices and marinade. Move chicken out of the hot pan and carefully pour out the hot oil. Let the pan cool a minute before rinsing clean and drying. To the clean pan add a splash of neutral oil, just enough to cover the bottom, and place chicken back in, skin side up this time.
Place the pan in the preheated oven to finish cooking. Depending on the size of the chicken leg (or thigh/drumstick), it will cook for roughly another 15-25 minutes total in the oven. You know the chicken is cooked when it reaches 165F internal temperature. You can check internal temperature for doneness after 15 minutes, as well as baste the chicken. Set a timer to remind yourself to do this.
While your chicken is getting started in the oven, make the crispy potatoes, credited to this original recipe from Christine Gallary but with the addition of shallots.
Remove potatoes from the water, dry and cut into similar sized quarters (or leave as halves for smaller potatoes). In another stainless or cast iron wide pan (10-12 inches to accommodate all of the potatoes), heat 2 Tbsps neutral oil over medium heat until shimmering. Place potatoes cut side down to the pan in a single layer and sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt. Cover the pan and cook 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and golden brown on the bottom. In her recipe, Christine talks about why a tight-fitting lid is so important here: to allow steam inside the pan to soften the potatoes.
When the timer goes off to check your chicken, wearing an oven mitt or using a well folded, dry kitchen towel to grab the pan, spoon any rendered fat or juices from the bottom over the chicken. Check internal temperature to assess doneness (165F is cooked).
If the chicken is finished, remove from the hot pan and set aside to rest, and place the pan with rendered juices to the side to use for serving later on. If your chicken needs more time, continue cooking another 5-10 minutes, making sure to then rest and set aside pan with juices.
After 15 minutes, potatoes should be golden on the first side. Open the pan lid away from you to avoid any steam droplets interacting with the hot oil and popping back at you. Flip the potatoes to the other uncooked, cut side and sprinkle with a bit more kosher salt. Continue to cook the potatoes on this second side over medium heat uncovered. After about 5 minutes, when potatoes are becoming golden on this side, add shallots to the pan. Cook potatoes and shallots together, stirring frequently until the shallots are also nice and golden. If your shallots look like they’re darkening too quickly, turn the heat down.
Whip up cumin yogurt with about 1/4 cup cold goat milk kefir. In a hot dry pan toast 1/2 tsp cumin seeds - about 1 min or until fragrant. Immediately mix into yogurt. Before serving add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. You can also prepare your yogurt sauce before you start cooking and leave in the fridge until the rest of the dish is ready.
Before serving reheat the rendered schmaltz from the chicken over low heat on your stove top if it’s cooled, scraping all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Spoon over chicken and potatoes. Drizzle with yogurt. Finish with a pinch of Maldon salt and serve.