WHOLE FIRE-ROASTED LEMONY CHICKEN WITH SAFFRON BUTTER, CURRANTS & POTATOES

Recipes and Food Styling Will Bowman & Jane Lyons / Photography Tony Nyberg

	FOR THE SAFFRON BUTTER
	100g butter, softened
	1 tablespoon chilli flakes
	1 teaspoon sumac
	2 pinches saffron strands, soaked in
	2 tablespoons boiling water
	½ teaspoon sea salt
	FOR THE CHICKEN
	1 organic chicken
	juice of 1 lemon
	1 teaspoon salt
	1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
	6 large Agria potatoes, roughly chopped
	12 shallots, peeled, halved
	½ cup currants
	½ cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped

1.	FOR THE CHICKEN
2.	Put the chicken in a large dish and massage with the lemon juice, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the saffron butter.
3.	Leave to marinate for an hour or overnight in the fridge.
4.	Using metal hooks, hang the chicken above and just offset from the fire – ideally one whole side of the chicken will be exposed to the heat, as opposed to just its bottom section, so lower your chicken into a position that allows this.
5.	Place an empty roasting dish with the block of remaining saffron butter under the chicken.
6.	Depending on the size and temperature of your fire, the chicken should take 2-2½ hours to cook.
7.	Throughout the cooking period, baste your chicken with the melted saffron butter regularly and turn the chicken on the hook in order to expose each side of it to direct heat.
8.	After an hour of cooking, push some of the burning coals under the roasting dish.
9.	Add the potatoes and shallots to the roasting dish and cook, tossing occasionally, until golden and crispy.
10.	Once cooked, add the currants and almonds and toss. Serve with the chicken.