To cook or smoke garlic on the barbecue, place 1 small bulb of garlic underneath the grill next to the coals and leave to cook in its skin for 1 hour, or until charred but soft in the middle. Or, try throwing a handful of soaked wood chips on the dying embers and leave the garlic to smoke overnight with the lid on, top vent half open. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze out the soft flesh, discarding the skins, and use 2 cloves in place of the garlic clove in step 4.
Ingredients
1 bunch of mixed woody herbs (20g)
1 x 2kg free-range whole chicken
3 lemons
4 x 3cm-thick slices of sourdough bread
1 sweetheart cabbage
4 mixed-colour chillies
1 x 50g tin of anchovy fillets, from sustainable sources
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 clove of garlic
1 heaped teaspoon English mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 heaped tablespoons Greek yoghurt
60g Parmesan cheese
200g tenderstem broccoli
12 rashers of higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
2 romaine lettuces
Top Tip
To cook on a Weber Genesis Barbecue, ignite the burners to high, preheat with the lid closed for 15 minutes then turn off the left-hand burners to create an indirect heat cooking zone. At step 1, use a Weber griddle press to weigh the chicken down, if you have one. At step 2, drain and place the soaked wood chips with half the remaining herb sprigs in a Weber smoker box directly on the hot zone. At step 2, when cooking with the lid down, aim for roughly 180°C/350°F/gas 4, adjusting if necessary.
Method
- Light the barbecue (see pages 16–19 of BBQ). Soak a handful of wood chips according to the packet instructions. Strip half the herb leaves into a pestle and mortar, pound with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then muddle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Use a large sharp knife to carefully cut down the back of the chicken, so you can open it out flat. Rub it all over with the herby oil, then place skin side down on the hot zone to sear for 5 minutes, flipping halfway. Halve and char 2 lemons alongside. Put the bread on the cool zone.
- Drain the wood chips and place on the hot zone with half the remaining herb sprigs for bonus fragrance. Move the chicken on top of the bread with the legs towards the medium zone and scatter over the last of the herbs. Place the cabbage on the hot zone. Prick the chillies and place on the medium-cool zone. Cook lid on, top vent half open, for 1 hour, or until the chicken internal temperature is 65–70ºC, spritzing with oil occasionally, and removing the lemons and chillies after 20 minutes.
- Once cool enough to handle, scrape the blackened skin off the chillies, discard the seeds and stalks, then slice lengthways and lay on a plate with the anchovies. Squeeze over half the fresh lemon juice, sprinkle over the dried oregano, add a few drips of extra virgin olive oil, and set aside.
- For the dressing, bash the garlic into a paste in a pestle and mortar. Mix in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and yoghurt. Finely grate in the Parmesan, squeeze in 3 of the charred lemon halves, then finely chop and add one of them, along with a drizzle of oil from the anchovy tin. Season to perfection.
- Remove the chicken and bread to a board and rest the chicken for 30 minutes – the internal temp needs to reach 75ºC. Trim the broccoli, halving any thicker stalks lengthways. Lay the bacon on the hot zone, scatter over the broccoli and cook lid on, top vent half open, for 10 to 15 minutes, removing once golden.
- Tear up the toasts. Click apart the lettuce leaves. Trim the cabbage, remove the outer burnt layers and roughly slice. Toss it all through the dressing with the bacon and broccoli. Serve with the golden chicken and anchovies.
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