This delicious Moroccan-flavoured dish is one of several we added to our repertoire after we bought a Weber Q at the end of 2012. Using the Weber as an oven produces a result that is moist and evenly cooked, with just the right amount of caramelisation.

Ready to light up the Weber; some of our beautiful orchids in the background

We usually use a whole, butterflied chicken but we inadvertently bought some oversized Marylands recently, and they worked just as well (see step 6 in the method).

Ingredients

2-3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp young thyme leaves and sprig tips
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp chilli flakes
¾ tsp sugar
flesh of ¼ of preserved lemon
1 tsp chicken stock powder
25-30ml extra virgin olive oil
1.6 kg free-range chicken, butterflied
1 red (Spanish) onion
extra olive oil

Method

1. Combine all ingredients except chicken, onion and oil in a mortar and pestle and pound. Add enough oil to form a thick paste.
2. Cut three of four slashes into the skin on the meatier parts of the chicken. Spread the paste over all surfaces of the chicken. Place chicken in a large dish, skinside up, cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. The next day, bring the chicken to room temperature (about 45 minutes). Peel, halve and finely slice the onion, then toss it in a bowl with a little olive oil and salt.
4. Prepare your BBQ as if for a roast and place the chicken on the trivet before you light the gas. Scatter the onion over the chicken when the temperature reaches 180C, then roast for a further 50-60 minutes, or until the slices of onion have started to caramelise.
5. Remove the chicken and carve into pieces to serve.
6. This recipe works best with a whole chicken or half a chicken, to provide a platform for the onion slices; or you could use smaller pieces of chicken and cook the onion separately in an aluminium BBQ tray.

(I will add some better photos of the finished dish next time we cook it, which will be soon after we return from Europe.)