You know those people. There’s one in every bunch. They’re free wheeling types, always very wacky and willing to do weird and wonderful things. But when it comes to food, they’re utterly conservative. I know a couple of people just like that and my first instinct is a) to try and help them see the light by taking them out and showing them the wonderful world of food available. Failing that: b) never invite them over to my place 
Excuse the name dropping but a few weeks ago, I was at the Iron Chef dinner in Sydney (well that wasn’t so bad was it? 
). One of my favourite dishes that night was the chicken baked in a salt crust. Not only did it taste great and was utterly succulent in a very subtle but fantastic way but it also looked amazing in a crazy way. Chef Haru had actually made it to look like an actual chicken (and you know how I have a bit of a fetish for making food look like animals right?). I knew that I should make this for that fussy guest that only wanted plain chicken and mashed potato but I still wanted a wow factor that wouldn’t disappoint other guests.
It wasn’t hard to find a recipe, in fact Chef Haru had put his online so I used his recipe. When you make it, to ensure that the chicken remains succulent make sure that there are no holes in the dough. The salt crust which is not meant to be eaten (trust me I tried some) acts as a steam oven keeping in all of the lovely juices and producing a gorgeous tender chicken, even with the breast which can often run dry. In fact when you take off the chicken shaped lid all of those heavenly juices will have gathered on the bottom and when you slice into the chicken, juices will run freely as it is so moist.
With the mash, please don’t feel like you need to buy blue cheese and buttermilk. I just wanted to use up both in my fridge and found that they combined really well with the mild flavoured chicken. The buttermilk lends a creamy tang, much like a yogurt would and the blue cheese add flavour and depth to the mash.
So tell me Dear Reader, are you politically adventurous but a conservative eater or vice versa or similar on both counts?
Salt Crusted Chicken with Blue Cheese & Buttermilk Mash
Adapted from Chef Haru
Ingredients
- 1½ bunches thyme, chopped coarsely
- 1½ bunches rosemary, chopped coarsely
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
- 900g/31.7 ozs salt
- 900g/31.7 ozs plain flour
- egg whites of 7 x 60g eggs (250g/9ozs)
- 300ml/10.14 ozs. water
- 1.5kg chicken (preferably free range, trussed) taken out of fridge 1 hour before starting to cook
- 2 egg yolks, combined with a little water
- 2 cloves
Buttermilk & Blue Cheese Mashed Potato
- 1kg/2 pounds potatoes
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 25grams blue cheese (or however much you like )
- 75g / butter
Method
1. Preheat oven to 170C/340F. Blend thyme, rosemary, garlic and salt in processor. Combine with egg white and flour in large bowl. Unless you have a really large electric mixer, mix it by hand. It almost killed my mixer as there was so much mix. Mix to combine. Gradually add water until a smooth dough forms.
2. Divide the dough in two portions: one thirds and two thirds of the dough. Place smaller piece of dough on a sheet of lightly floured baking paper. Roll the dough out to 5mm in thickness.
3. Place this dough on a lined baking tray. Place trussed chicken, breast side up, in the centre.
4. Roll out the rest of the dough and cut out two “wings” and a tail. Cover chicken with remaining piece of rolled dough. Do this carefully and ensure that there are no gaps or holes as they will dry the chicken out. Crimp edges to seal, brush with egg wash.
5. Fashion a chicken’s head and add two cloves for eyes. Using the egg yolk as a glue, attach the head, tail and wings to the chicken and brush these with the egg wash.
Cutting the crust
Ta-da!
6. Bake at 170°C/340F fan forced for 1.5 hours. Once cooked, cut around base of salt crust. (DO NOT EAT CRUST). Remove the top crust. Lift chicken onto chopping board, and cut into serving size portions. Serve with mashed potato and herbs to simulate a chicken’s roost. Just because you want to.
For mashed potato
1. Boil potatoes in salted water until soft. Pass through a potato ricer into a bowl. In a large saucepan, heat butter, crumbled blue cheese and buttermilk and once heated and butter has melted, stir through the potato. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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63 Comments | Add your own
Mmmhhh, that meat must be tender!
Cheers,
Rosa
This chicken looks fantastic! I think I’m more of an adventurous eater than adventurous otherwise
hehe that’s awesome (I think I saw one like this from Suze?)
Maybe I’m not creative though :p
This is gorgeous, Lorraine! And what an elegant presentation! It reminds me of the movie Julie and Julia towards the end of the movie when Julie made the meat dish (I can’t remember exactly what it was) that was covered in pastry.
WoW! I have seen this dish quite a few times now but have always been too scared to try and make it. Perhaps I will have to be ‘adventurous’ and give it a try????
I don’t know why, but I really want to reach through the screen and inhale this.
I have made salt crusted fish, and the salt does make it wonderful andmosit. Love your chook-shaped crust – too bad you can’t eat it, it’s adorable.
This looks great! What fun.
That is incredible! So yummy and CUTE!
What a GORGEOUS bird! I have never cooked a chicken in a salt crust but like Cakelaw I have done a whole snapper and it was divine. So moist and tender.
I promise if you invite me over for dinner I’d never complain about whatever you would serve!
A lovely dish Lorraine! Can I ask how much blue cheese went into the mash, please? Thanks!
I don’t know why but that baked ‘chicken’ makes me laugh – I would be hysterical if that was served to me. Someting about food looking like what it really is. Is chef Haru the chef who was oat the Observatory Hotel?
I’d say I was a combination eater. I do like to try new things. When we travelled I like to explore the cuisine of each new country.
But when I find a dish I like at a restaurant I’ll order the same dish every time we go there. So much so that some of our restaurants are known by the dishes I eat there rather than the name of the restaurant. eek!
Looove the herb wreath – the chicky looks so comfy
I am totally making that for my daughter. In the shape of a Pokemon. She will LOSE HER MIND!
It’s always a challenge to cook for people with limited choices food-wise! sometimes it makes you come up with wonderful dishes – like this one
The presentation of this is so beautiful and my favourite part is the herb nest. I would love to serve this as a dinner party dish with quails so each diner recieves their own little one! p.s I am definately in the adventurous camp!
Lorraine…you are truly a talent in the kitchen. It turned out to be a masterpiece.
I’m not too adventurous in my choices of food…however, I like to believe that I do have my occasional moments.
Thanks for sharing and flavourful wishes,
Claudia
This is such a creative and delightful way to showcase a dish. I loved it!
What a great idea! It reminds me of the Chrismas Ham my Grandmother used to cook. The ham was encased in a dough & then baked & it was so delicious & moist. Might give the chicken a go. Many thanks!
Gorgeous presentation, so perfectly browned and I love the rustic parsley and rosemary nest it sits in.
your birdie is just so adorable!
I always wondered if that crust was any good… thanks for tasting it for me
I have conservative friends regarding food… annoying=yes. I try to take them to more exotic places from time to time.
This is such a beautiful creation Lorraine and the meat looks so succulent. Butter milk & blue cheese mash sounds divine!
I have roasted a beef roast under a salt crust before. But never have I done a chicken . It really makes the meat tender whether it is beef or chicken.
This looks so awesome! I’d love to dig in! The mashed potatoes sound delicious too!
I’m not the MOST adventurous eater, but I’m getting more so all the time!
This looks so cool! I’d say if anything i’m more adventurous with food. I do love my food!
Double thanks for all the animal links
Lorraine, what a beautiful chicken dish…love the way you presented, absolutely gorgeous
Lorraine, the chicken is so lovely! Well done! I’m conservative in everything except my cooking – that’s where I’ll try anything once.
The chicken looks so cute… and so moist! The carving shot is the best, along with the one of the lid being lifted – the aroma must have been wonderful.
This is awesome! Beautiful! I love it, well done.
Nice idea but boring chicken..how about spicying it out??
Love the chicken inside the chicken!
I am an adventurous eater for the most part. But then again, I have to be for my job. But I have many friends who are finicky and scared to break out of the culinary box. I try to nudge them to explore more. After all, it’s just so sad all the wondrous things they are missing.
So cute, I love the little chicken shape you made.
I’m so impressed with your effort and all the work you put in to make this moist and soft chicken. I’d watch it all day and not eat it lol
That is actually ridiculously cute. How did you manage to make it so cute?! Plus, blue cheese. You had me at blue cheese.
How cool is that… gorgeous! Cluck cluck!!
You’re adamant that I don’t try the salt crust but in that case, tell me what it tastes like!!!
No doubt, many of us are looking at this chicken-enclosed chicken wondering if what we’re seeing is true. You are so talented! Who else can do something like this? Looks like a salt crust can do a lot for meat and not just veggies.
Lorraine you’re so clever with your food sculptures! What a work of art, and the chicken looks deliciously moist as well.
not only your dish is pretty but it also looks delicious! perfct cooked!
is that a marimekko design plate underneath the beauty or am I getting too excited? love ya work, cath
oh my goodness that’s SHO cute. i wanna eat it all up.
I can almost smell the juices and scent of the chicken from here, such an ancient but really effective technique!
That’s so brilliant, I love how the chicken emerges from that crust. It looks so juicy and tender too.
Just had a look at your other food looking like animals, I adore the koala cupcakes!!!
I LOVE that you too have made this look like an actual chicken (is it wrong to feel this way??), and the little herb nest is so sweet. I’ve seen Jamie Oliver do this too, so definitely need to try it once the weather gets cold enough for roast chicken again. And the blue cheese mash sounds heavenly!!
I’d say i’m fairly adventurous on both counts – nothing frustrates me as much as people who are completely dull and unadventurous with their food. In fact this was one of the first things that struck me when moving to the UK – the English are generally very conservative on the culinary front!
Miss B xx
She(?) looks really majestic and cute at the same time.
I love the look of your chicken crust! Sounds like a delicious meal, and the flavorful mashed potatoes are a great side. I think I’m a mostly adventurous eater (even though I don’t eat red meat).
Oh this is too cute Lorraine! Hehe as soon as I saw it I thought “Iron Chef!”.
I can be a conservative but I think ever since I started blogging I have been a little more adventurous. My friends absolutely love anything “different” that I dish up because anything that I cook is wowing to them even if it was something as simple as crepes with whipped cream =)
That looks awesomely pretty!
And yes, I have friends who are usually up for anything on a boozy Friday night but when it comes to choosing a place to have dinner, they’re happy with parma and chips at the pub.
The chicken is amazing Lorraine! Well done. Going to have to make this to amuse the kids soon
I’d like to think I’m pretty adventurous, maybe.
OMG, that is so cute and pretty. I want to gobble it up
*kisses* HH
Wow what an amazing creation – such a shame to eat it!
Wow, great looking chicken! and I like the addition of blue cheese in mash!
how fun! i’m a fairly adventurous eater. i have sometimes tried food that i still haven’t quite figured out what part of the animal it came from (what are calf lights?)…
that’s a little disturbing, a tad adorable, and absolutely scrumptious-looking. what a nifty idea, and as usual, your execution is impressive!
What a lovely, lovely presentation!! So well executed. Bravo, Lorraine!
I’m a pretty adventurous eater, I’d say. I’ll try anything once, and probably a couple of times
HAven’t visited ur site in ages..but here i am from HK!! hhehee..
LOVE this dish..so pretty!! awwww…
the salt crust dough make the chicken salty? I see that the chicken is not rubbed with salt prior baking?
I had a chuckle when I saw the bird. You come up with bizzare ideas.
I am fascinated by your salt crust despite a lack of interest in eating chicken – I even though could I do this with tofu but I think that is just crazy!
And I love seeing how people do mash – I did some this week with leftover ricotta and it was great
Now that’s a fancy chicken! What a shame you can’t eat the crust, it’s so beautiful. xoxo Mum
My darling Nigella,
Thanks a for being a great teacher.Everytime i make your dishes i get appreciated by everyone.Love and best wishes from Sara sri lanka.
I’m just now seeing this. Lorraine, I could never “not eat” crust. Ohhh I have thing for dough, so I’ll just look at yours. Were you a sculptor in another life?
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