3rd Place – 2020 home cooking comp – by Nathan Webb

Applewood Smoked Chicken with Agave Ginger Cider glaze. Spinach, Pistachio, Pecorino Salad & Sweet Potato Fries

Chickens

Ingredients

4 litres water

200g sea salt

100g caster sugar

peel of 2 lemons

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

4 bay leaves

 

2 chickens

Method

  1. Bring to boil and stir until salt/sugar has dissolved.
  2. Cool in fridge or with ice.
  3. Place chickens in brine and refrigerate for 24hrs.
  4. Remove from brine, pat dry. Heat charcoal BBQ to 150 degrees
  5. Smoke chickens for 2hrs with Applewood chunks until internal temp of 83 degrees.
  6. Baste with cider glaze during final 30mins of cooking.

Cider glaze

Ingredients

4 cloves garlic crushed

1 small onion diced

1 can Sydney Brewery Agave Ginger Cider

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 bay leaves

60ml scotch whiskey

 

Method

  1. Bring to boil and reduce by half.
  2. Strain mixture, return to pot and gently simmer until thickened.
  3. Set aside.

Sweet potato fries

Ingredients

sweet potatoes

100g duck fat

salt

pepper

chilli powder.

 

Method

  1. Preheat oven and tray to 220 degrees.
  2. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into roughly even chip wedges
  3. Mix in large bowl with duck fat, salt, pepper and pinch of chilli powder.
  4. Bake for 45-60min or until crispy turning every 30min
 
 

Spinach salad

Ingredients

200g baby spinach chopped into ribbons

50g pistachio nuts chopped

50g pecorino cheese grated

Dressing
60ml olive oil

30ml apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

salt & pepper to taste.

 

Method

Combine in bowl just before serving. Serves 6.

Â