Chicken Goujons with Herby Potatoes

Ingredients

• 600g chicken breast mini fillets, cut into goujon-sized strips
• 80g plain flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 150g panko breadcrumbs
• 40g Parmesan, finely grated
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1.2kg Maris Piper potatoes, cut into wedges
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 3 garlic cloves, left in skins, lightly crushed
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 4 tbsp ketchup
• salt and black pepper to taste
• mixed leaf salad, to serve
• coleslaw, to serve
• crusty bread, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C fan. Tip the potato wedges into a large bowl with the olive oil, dried rosemary, smoked paprika, the crushed garlic cloves still in their skins, and a generous pinch of salt and black pepper. Toss until every wedge is slick and rust-coloured — the oil needs to carry the paprika and rosemary onto the potato, so don't be shy. Letting the smoked paprika and rosemary bloom in the hot oil on the tray is what turns them fragrant rather than dusty.
2. Spread the wedges on a large baking tray in a single layer, cut sides down — crowd them and they steam instead of roast. Roast for 25 minutes, until the undersides are deep gold and the edges are starting to crisp and catch.
3. While the potatoes roast, set up three wide bowls. Season the flour well with salt and pepper in the first. Beat the eggs in the second. In the third, mix the panko with the Parmesan, garlic granules and oregano, plus a pinch more salt.
4. Pat the chicken strips dry with kitchen paper — water means soggy crumb — and season them on both sides with salt and pepper before they go anywhere near the flour. Coat each strip in the seasoned flour, then the egg, then press firmly into the panko mix so the crumbs lock on. Lay them on a baking-paper-lined tray in a single layer, well spaced, and drizzle or spray lightly with oil. The oil is what turns the crumb deep golden in a dry oven.
5. After the potatoes have had their 25 minutes, pull the tray out and turn each wedge with a fish slice so the pale side hits the heat. Slide the goujon tray onto a second shelf and bake both for 18 to 20 minutes, until the crumb is deep golden and crisp and the chicken is cooked through — 70°C at the thickest point, or firm with clear juices when pressed.
6. Squeeze the soft roasted garlic out of its papery skins onto the wedges and toss through — mellow, sweet, savoury, completely different from raw garlic and worth the extra ten seconds. Discard any skins that have toughened.
7. Taste a wedge. Adjust the salt now, on the tray, not at the table — potatoes drink seasoning and always want a final pinch.
8. Pile the goujons and wedges onto a warm platter or plates, scatter the lemon wedges around for squeezing over the hot crumb, and set out small bowls of mayonnaise and ketchup for dipping. Add the leaves, coleslaw and crusty bread alongside.