Chicken Fat Baked Potatoes

with olives and zaatar feta labneh

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My favourite restaurant in Auckland is Gemmayze Street, and this labneh is heavily inspired by their labneh. I celebrated my 27th birthday with my friends and partner there, and it was a really wholesome, glorious evening. We got the sharing (Jeeb) Menu and I don’t know that I can say anything was disappointing. I wish we had a little more room for the dessert but we certainly didn’t leave hungry. It’s nestled at the back of St Kevins Arcade on K-Road, so you can browse Junktion’s vintage cameras, try on something cheetah print at Sinda, oggle yourself in the box tv, and make a reservation at Pici , all before getting to your table.

bts: my 27th

Pouring chicken fat laced with lemon and salt into a fluffy baked potato feels a little like sinning - a favourite pass time of mine. These are chicken and potatoes sure, but they’re elevated, they’re sophisticated, they’re sexy.

This recipe only works with skin-on chicken, because we need to render the skin to release it’s fat. You can break down a whole chicken or you can simply buy chicken thighs with the skin on. It’s easier to do the latter, but often more economical and exciting to do the former. Truthfully, I hate breaking down chickens; I do a good job, but it never looks as sexy as when those sandwich boys do it on social media. I blame it on my small hands.

The Recipe

Chicken Fat Baked Potatoes

serves 2-4

A quarter sheet pan is the perfect size for two chicken thighs. It leaves room for the chicken to to crisp up all around, but isn’t so large that the fat starts to burn. A good rule of thumb is four thighs to one quarter sheet. Admittedly I bought my sheet pans from the US but you can order them online somewhere I believe.

Serve the chicken with a simple salad, the photo below shows spinach, vinaigrette, and pine nuts. Hardly exciting but you choose your battles, and I didn’t have the energy to do anything else.