After over a year of posting recipes, and mainly Greek ones, I have come to realize something. I have not posted what is the most commonly eaten dish in Greece. It is roast chicken with potatoes.

Every yiayia and mom makes Kotopoulo me Patates. Often.

At the heart of this dish are the ingredients that define Greek cooking: lemon, oregano, and olive oil. The simplicity of the ingredients speaks to the heart of Greek culinary cooking to let the simple ingredients shine.

The basic recipe is simple. Put a chicken in the pan. Add potatoes. Cover with some olive oil and lemon. Sprinkle some oregano on it. Roast. There are endless combinations of just how to make this.

The challenge is to make sure the potatoes are done at the same time as the chicken. It’s really easy to roast the chicken and have uncooked potatoes. My mom actually roasted them separately. I think I have found a winner with 2 simple steps and used one baking pan.

First of all, to make sure the potatoes are done, I parboil them. This actually results in a nice crisp potato after roasting. Parboiling is simply putting some potatoes in water and boiling for about 5 minutes. It cooks them just enough before roasting.

Secondly, I split the chicken in two to make sure the thighs and breast cook evenly.

Those two steps result in a perfectly juicy chicken and crisp potatoes. I will never make it another way now.

Here goes

Serves 4

GREEK ROAST CHICKEN AND POTATOES

• 1 whole chicken, spit
• 24 oz potatoes. I used fingerlings with the latest time
• 1 lemon
• 4 garlic cloves sliced
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, cut into sections
• 3 tbsp oregano
• few sprigs of fresh thyme
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 Celsius)

Lightly oil baking dish. I prefer a metal pan as it just seems to roast better. Cut the larger potatoes into equal size pieces or use fingerlings. Place into a pan and cover with cold water. Bring it up to a boil and let boil for about 6 minutes. Parboiling these potatoes will allow them to roast better later. After 6 minutes of boiling, drain and place into a bowl.

Split the chicken in half with kitchen shears or a big huge knife. Trim excess fat off of it..

Drizzle about 1/3 cup of olive oil on chicken. Squeeze half a lemon on it. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons or so of oregano. Add 3 sprigs of fresh thyme, pepper, and some salt on the chicken. Give the chicken a nice rub to make sure it is all coated.

Place the chicken onto large metal baking pan.

Cut onion in half through end. Then quarter. Then cut quarters through stem. So all can hold together. Add it to the bowl of potatoes..

Add about 1/3 cup of oil, the chopped garlic, and squeeze half of lemon onto potatoes. Sprinkle with a big pinch of oregano,a few sprigs of thyme, and salt and pepper. Mix well.

Place the potatoes and onions all around the chicken. Drizzle the extra lemony oil from the bowl on all of it.

Roast the chicken at 350 degrees for about 90 minutes. Both the potatoes and the chicken skin should look nice and crispy.

When serving, feel free to pour the extra sauce from the pan onto the chicken. It’s a liquid flavor bomb.

Just serve with a nice salad and enjoy a wonderful family meal.

OPA!!!