House Recipe: Brick Chicken with grapes, spicy yoghurt and Thai basil

Inspired by a beloved Little Beach House Malibu recipe and a consistent favourite on House Kitchen menus across the UK, our Brick Chicken is the perfect spring dinner – tangy, filling, with just the right amount of spice. The key to creating the perfect kick from the spiced yoghurt sauce? We’ll let you in on a House secret: sriracha.

The cooking method for the chicken in this recipe is a simplified version of the one we use at the House, using deboned chicken legs and a heavy pan to stand in for the ‘brick’ in our Brick Chicken. 

If you’re not comfortable deboning a chicken, ask your butcher to do it for you. Or, if you’re want to learn a new skill, there are plenty of online tutorials that will take you through the process step-by-step. Happy cooking. 

Brick Chicken

Serves two

Ingredients
2 skin-on chicken legs (thigh and drumstick)
5 mint leaves 
5 parsley leaves 
5 Thai basil leaves 
10g breakfast radishes (thinly sliced)
15g black grapes (halved)
15g cherry tomatoes (halved)
10g lemon dressing

Lemon Dressing 
30ml extra virgin olive oil 
10ml lemon juice

Lemongrass Mop 
100g lemongrass stalks, roughly chopped 
50g shallots, roughly chopped
75ml liquid honey
20g palm sugar
12ml sriracha
5ml tamari
5ml white wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
¾ tsp fine sea salt
½ tsp turmeric powder

Spicy Yoghurt Sauce
8ml lemon juice
150ml Greek yoghurt 
100ml mayonnaise (from a jar is fine)
10ml sriracha 


Method

Tip: Prepare the Mop and sauces first, then cook the chicken just before serving.

Lemongrass Mop
1. Add chopped lemongrass stalks and shallots with the other ingredients until completely smooth. 

Spicy Yoghurt Sauce
1. Blend lemon juice, garlic, and smoked paprika until smooth.
2. Add in the yoghurt, mayonnaise, and sriracha and whisk together until fully incorporated.

Lemon Dressing 
1. Combine all ingredients and mix well. 

Chicken 

Tip: Place a sheet of foil between the chicken and the pan you’re weighting on top of it to aid heat transfer without sticking. 

1. Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet large enough to fit each piece flat and after seasoning the chicken on both sides, add to the hot pan, skin-side down. 
2. Rest a second heavy pan on top (separated from the chicken with foil) and cook over medium-high heat for four to five minutes, until the skin is golden brown. 
3. Remove the top pan and continue to cook, alternating sides and brushing with the lemongrass mop each time you turn over, until the chicken is golden brown and only just cooked through at the thickest part (about three to five minute).
4. Set aside to rest while you plate up the sauce – this will allow the chicken to complete cooking through.


Assembly
1. Smear the spicy yoghurt sauce across the centre of two dinner plates. (If you don’t use it all he sauce will keep in the fridge for a few days)
2. Place the chicken on top.
3. Garnish with a salad made up of your herbs, radish, grapes and cherry tomatoes.
4. Add lemon dressing to taste and finish with fresh ground black pepper.