Smoked Paprika Roast Chicken

My first dish of the new year was roasted paprika chicken breast with tomatoes and chick peas . I used bone in chicken breasts that time and I fell so in love with the oil that I have been using it for lots of other things like some roasted some cauliflower and a batch of peppers, zucchini and red onion. This stuff is the bomb.

Tonight I wanted to roast a chicken and so what could be more perfect than a slathering of the paprika oil on a whole chicken? It is very similar to the original but I think adapting the dish to a whole chicken and changing up the veg makes it new enough for me. As a change from my sticky rotisserie method that I usually use, I roasted the bird at high heat. So simple. It really is cooking for dummies and since I have a no good, terrible head cold and can't even remember my own name right now, that made it a perfect dish. The skin was beautifully crispy and the smoked paprika flavour really shines through.

Smoked Paprika Roast Chicken

smoked paprika oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbls smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin


1 3 lb roasting chicken
kosher salt

3 yellow fleshed potatoes
handful of brussels sprouts, washed and ends trimmed but left whole

mix up the paprika oil

Rub some of the paprika oil on the chicken, making sure you get every spot covered.If you can do it earlier in the day and leave it, uncovered, in the fridge that would be great but I am sure it would still be good if you can't do that.
Preheat the oven to 450F

Cut the potatoes into big chunks and toss them, along with the brussel sprouts, in a small drizzle of the paprika oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat well.

Place your chicken in a roasting pan and surround it with the potatoes and brussels sprouts, sprinkle the bird with some kosher salt and roast it on the second to bottom level in your oven for about 1 hr. I put the other rack on the top spot and lay a piece of foil on that so that the fat won't splatter up onto the upper element and make it smoke like crazy.

That's it. I didn't baste it or stir the vegetables or anything.
I took it out after an hour, carved the chicken, put the veggies in a bowl.