Passover cooking doesn’t need to include boxes of matzoh meal and other extraneous ingredients. Keep it simple, as kosher cooking expert Kim Kushner does, with this updated roast chicken recipe from her new cookbook “I Heart Kosher: Beautiful Recipes From My Kitchen” (Weldon Owen, $35).
Butterflied and roasted alongside tempting Hasselback potatoes, this chicken is her go-to for Passover or any night.
“This recipe is simple, easy and the kids love it,” Kushner says. “The potatoes, alongside the beautiful golden roasted chickens, are best served hot, right out of the oven.”
Kim Kushner’s Simple Roast Chicken with Hasselback Potatoes recipe
Serves 6 to 10
Chicken ingredients:
2 whole butterflied chickens, skin on and bone in, trimmed of excess skin and fat
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons, halved
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
Leaves from 4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Potato ingredients:
6 to 10 medium to large Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and dried
Light olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line an extra-large rimmed baking sheet (or 2 regular baking sheets) with parchment paper.
Season the chickens with salt and pepper on both sides — be generous! Squeeze the lemons over the chickens, then drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Rub the garlic and thyme on both sides of the chickens. Place the chickens, skin side up, on the prepared baking sheet.
For the Hasselback potatoes, working with one potato at a time, cut thin slits into the top of the potato from one side to the other, cutting almost but not all the way through, almost like a fan. Drizzle the light olive oil over the potatoes and season generously with salt and pepper, then use your hands to rub in the seasonings and ensure that the potatoes are completely coated with the oil, salt and pepper. Place the potatoes, uncut side down, around the chickens on the same baking sheet.
Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.Uncover and bake until both the chickens and potatoes are crispy and golden, 30 minutes longer. Serve.
Make-Ahead Tip: The chickens can be marinated and stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours before cooking. Cooked chickens with potatoes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days; reheat, uncovered, in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes.
— Kim Kushner’s “I Heart Kosher: Beautiful Recipes From My Kitchen” (Weldon Owen, $35)
