Armenian Yogurt Marinated Chicken with Harissa

So, once again, we had a dish that involves a whole chicken. And, once again we have a dish that involves yogurt.

That said, this came out kind of bland...not terrible...not mind blowing...just kind of there...ya know, just like Armenia (AMIRIGHT??)

The most interesting thing about this dish is that Armenia considers their national dish to be a spice mixture, which still baffles me. Anyways, below is the recipe:

1/4 cup whole milk yogurt
One 1- to 2-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon red chile flakes
Kosher salt
1 whole chicken, cut in half
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, halved
Harissa

To make the Harissa, follow these steps:

2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon red chile flakes
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded
Sea salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to coat the top of the harissa

note: you can use equivalent powder versions for all of this if you'd like (that's what I did). 

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, ginger, cumin, chile flakes and salt. Whisk until smooth and pour into a baking dish. Lay the chicken halves, skin-side up, in the yogurt mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours to marinate.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the chicken from the yogurt, leaving any excess behind, and lay them out on a baking sheet, skin-side down. Cook until the skin is brown and crispy, and then flip. Altogether, it should cook for 35 to 40 minutes.

Then for the Harissa, in a small bowl, combine the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and caraway seeds. Add the spices to a sheet tray and toast in the oven for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and set aside to cool. Add the paprika and chile flakes to the spice mix.

Using a mortar and pestle (or a food processor, like a normal human being), grind the garlic cloves until they become a paste, and then add the red bell pepper. Season with salt, and then add the spices and the 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and blend well.

While this recipe (here) calls to grind in the bell pepper--I actually left it chunky:

All in all, this wasn't bad...just kinda boring and bland. Gorby got so bored, he walked out side and just slept in the dirt:

Anyways, next week, we'll have something a little more entertaining...next up is Australia. While they don't have an official national dish, the unofficial dish is meat pie. This stuff is so bad that they had an obesity conference last year explicitly dedicated to the meat pie scourge. So, I suppose Gorby and I are intrigued.