Our Cookbook

British

BBQ chicken caesar

Whole barbecued chicken with smoked broccoli, bacon, charred cabbage and a charred-lemon caesar dressing.

  • YieldServes 6 to 8
  • Prep30m
  • Cook1h
  • Effortweekend

  • 20g mixed woody herbs (1 bunch)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for spritzing)
  • 2kg free-range whole chicken
  • 3 lemons
  • 4 3cm-thick slices of sourdough bread
  • 1 sweetheart cabbage
  • 4 mixed-colour chillies
  • 50g tin of anchovy fillets
  • 0.5 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tsp English mustard (heaped)
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 tbsp Greek yoghurt (heaped)
  • 60g Parmesan cheese
  • 200g tenderstem broccoli
  • 12 rashers smoked streaky bacon
  • 2 romaine lettuces

Method

Prep

  1. Light the barbecue with a 50/50 charcoal setup and soak a handful of applewood chips per the packet.
  2. Strip the leaves from half the herbs into a pestle and mortar, pound with salt and pepper, then muddle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
  3. Cut down the chicken’s back to butterfly it flat, then rub all over with the herby oil.

Cook the chicken

  1. Sit the chicken skin-side down on the hot zone for 5 minutes, flipping halfway.
  2. Halve and char 2 lemons alongside the chicken. Put the bread on the cool zone.
  3. Drain the wood chips and scatter on the hot zone.
  4. Move the chicken onto the bread with its legs pointing toward the medium zone, and scatter the remaining herb sprigs over the top.
  5. Place the cabbage on the hot zone. Prick the chillies and sit them on the medium-cool zone.
  6. Cover with the lid, top vent half open, and cook for 1 hour until the chicken’s internal temperature reaches 65–70°C, spritzing with oil occasionally.
  7. Lift off the lemons and chillies after 20 minutes.

Prep the anchovies and chillies

  1. Once the chillies are cool enough to handle, scrape off the blackened skin and discard the seeds and stalks. Slice lengthways and lay on a plate with the anchovies.
  2. Squeeze the juice of half a fresh lemon over the anchovies and chillies, sprinkle with the dried oregano, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and set aside.

Make the dressing

  1. For the dressing, bash the garlic into a paste in the pestle and mortar.
  2. Mix in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and yoghurt.
  3. Finely grate in the Parmesan and squeeze in 3 of the charred lemon halves.
  4. Finely chop one of the squeezed lemon halves and add it to the dressing along with a drizzle of the anchovy tin oil. Season to taste.

Rest the chicken and cook the bacon

  1. Move the chicken and bread to a board and rest the chicken for 30 minutes (75°C target internal).
  2. Trim the broccoli, halving any thicker stalks lengthways.
  3. Lay the bacon on the hot zone, scatter the broccoli over the top and cook with the lid on, top vent half open, for 10 to 15 minutes, lifting off once golden.

Assemble and serve

  1. Tear up the toasts. Click apart the lettuce leaves.
  2. Trim the cabbage, remove any burnt outer layers and roughly slice.
  3. Toss everything through the dressing with the bacon and broccoli.
  4. Serve with the golden chicken and the anchovies.