Sweet and Spicy Roast Chicken with Chillies and Thyme

Active time: 35 mins
Chilling time: 8 hrs
Total time: 10 hrs 45 mins
Serves: 6

• Brining the chicken overnight with pineapple juice, brown sugar, chillies, thyme, garlic, bay leaf and salt keeps it succulent while building a well-balanced sweet heat.
• Roasting the brined chicken at a high heat and regularly basting it with pineapple glaze produces a richly caramelised, flavourful exterior.
• Resting the roast chicken before it is served gives its juices time to settle and its flavours to come together, leaving the finished dish moist and deeply flavoured.

This vibrant, juicy chicken calls for a little advance planning, but requires very little active effort. The main tasks are warming the brine until the sugar has dissolved, mixing the glaze and basting the chicken now and then while it cooks. It is a classic dish that tastes excellent at any time of year.

What is the difference between marinating and brining?

Although both marinades and brines add flavour, they are intended to do different things. A marinade primarily tenderises food through its acidic element. Brining, meanwhile, uses salt to draw moisture into the chicken, making it juicier.

How long can chicken stay in the brine?

The suitable wet-brining time for chicken varies according to the size or cut of the bird and the salt level of the brine. For this recipe, brine the chicken for no longer than 12 hours. Leaving it longer can make the chicken overly salty and give it a mushy texture.

Note from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

For a balanced meal, serve the chicken alongside sautéed greens.

Suggested pairing

Chardonnay made in warm regions frequently has ripe tropical-fruit notes, including pineapple, so it makes an excellent partner for this chicken.

Ingredients

Original recipe (1X) yields 6 servings.

• 1.42 litres pineapple juice, plus 45 ml, divided
• 150 g packed light brown sugar, divided
• 3 fresh hot red chillies, 2 halved lengthways and 1 thinly sliced
• 2 sprigs thyme, plus 7.5 ml finely chopped thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 30 ml kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
• 2.27 kg mixed bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, such as whole legs and breast halves
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Put 1.42 litres of the pineapple juice and 100 g of the brown sugar in a large saucepan. Bring just to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the halved red chillies, thyme sprigs, crushed garlic, bay leaf and 30 ml salt, then leave the brine to cool completely.

2. Place the chicken in the brine so that it is fully submerged. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Before roasting, leave the chicken in the brine at room temperature for 1 hour.

3. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7 and line a large rimmed baking tray with foil. Whisk the remaining 45 ml pineapple juice with 50 g brown sugar in a medium bowl. Mix in the sliced red chilli and chopped thyme to form the glaze.

4. Lift the chicken from the brine, discard the brine and pat the pieces dry with kitchen paper. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then arrange skin-side up on the lined baking tray. Roast in the upper third of the oven for about 45 minutes, brushing with the glaze every 15 minutes, until browned and a digital thermometer inserted close to the bone reads 71°C. Move the chicken to a serving platter and rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Originally appeared: October 2014

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