I love paprika!! (as you know)… I also am a big fan of Alton Brown. So it was an absolute no brainer when this request came in to try one of Alton Brown’s favourite dishes – Paprika Chicken…. the chicken actually self-sauces the bed of onions and potatoes beneath it! I hope i’ve sold this enough for you… it really was delicious!
So here’s how to make this amazing paprika chicken, start off by pre-heating your oven to 190c/170fan/375F.
With all the other bits prepped, simply add the olives, lemon zest and garlic in a small bowl, give it a little mix and leave to one side to get to know eachother.
Make the paste for the chicken by mixing the smoked paprika, olive oil and salt and pepper in a large bowl. At first it will be dry, then it will bond together and get paste like. Now this bit was a bit like an operation and I don’t know why we didn’t just get boneless (and still don’t as I type!) but anyhow…. lay the chicken thighs skin-side down. Using a pair of kitchen scissors, make a cut down the length of the bone to expose it, then cut the meat away from the bone, discarding the bone but keeping the whole piece of chicken in one piece. Unravel the now de-boned thigh and repeat.
Dump all the thighs in the bowl with the paprika paste and then mix around with a wooden spoon to coat all the thighs completely so they all look like they have a sun tan.
Stuff each thighs with about 2 tablespoons of the olive mixture under the skin of each chicken thigh, you may need to help lift the skin up at first with a bit of force – well, I found that a bit anyhow. Arrange the chicken thighs, skin-side up, on a cooling rack. Arrange the potato slices and onion pieces in an even layer on a foil-lined pan.
Place cooling rack over potatoes and bake until the skin is crispy and the potatoes are tender, this took around an hour. The potatoes will mostly be softened and delicate, so if you prefer them crispy, remove the rack with the chicken and return to the oven for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until charred.
Pile it up and serve away… I loved the simplicity of this recipe, so delicious and really opens up new opportunities of self saucing savoury stonkers!
Remember this is a Barry tries recipe, so full credit goes to Alton Brown for the wizard of a recipe – it was sourced from here