Chicken Ras-el-hanout

Comfort dining in April

Spicy chicken with oven roasted new potatoes, purple carrots and red peppers and ramson aioli

Serves 4

1 fresh chicken

1 TBSP Ras-el-hanout

Salt

11/2 pound potatoes

11/2 (purple) carrots

2-3 snack peppers

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Ramsons Aioli:

1 clove garlic

1 pinch salt

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

1 organic lemon

1 little handful Ramsons

Salt and pepper

Cut the chicken in to desired pieces – I just cut the legs of and split the breast in two pieces.

Season the chicken pieces with Ras-el-hanout and salt and place them in a roasting pan. Place in the oven, turn in on to about 390 degrees F (200 degrees C) and let it roast for about 1 hour.

Scrub the potatoes and mix them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray with baking paper. Scrub or peel the carrots. Wash the peppers and slice them. Mix carrots and peppers with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and place on baking paper on the baking sheet. Pop in the oven the last 25 minutes.

Put the garlic in a mortar and pestle with the salt and grind it into a paste. Whisk mayonnaise and sour cream together and add garlic, mustard, 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon rind, 1-2 tsp lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Wash the Ramsons leaves thoroughly and remove any tough stalks (the tender ones are fine).  Chop them finely with a sharp knife and toss them in the aioli. Season with more lemon, salt and pepper if needed.

Serve and enjoy!

Ras-el-hanout is a Moroccan spice blend which can contain up to 50 different spices or more. You can buy Ras-el-hanout in specialty shops or make your own:

Ras-el-hanout:

2 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 stick cinnamon

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp cardamom seeds

1/2 tsp whole cloves

1/2 tsp whole black pepper

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cayenne

1/4 tsp ground mace

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Roast the whole spices in a frying pan until aromatic – a couple of minutes.

Put them in a mortar and pound away at them with the pestle. Add the ground spices and your ready to go. Keep in a jar.

Ramsons, buckrams or bear's garlic (Allium ursinum) is a wild relative of chives. Tastes a little garlickyJ