Glamorous Peruvian Chicken

Glamorous chicken? Is that a thing, Laura?

Yes, my friends. It is if your chicken looks like THIS:
 

Money shot

 This is the Peruvian Chicken I waxed poetic about in the Peruvian-ish Halibut post from a couple of months ago. This particular chicken looks extra glamorous because I spatchcocked it, which is a fun word for a brutal-sounding task - cutting the back bone out of the chicken so it lays flat. This isn't a delicate procedure, but it's totally worth it. The chicken cooks faster, more evenly, and you almost double the crispy skin. Moment of silence for the kitchen shears that snapped halfway through the spatchcocking process. 

I also whipped up the life-changing green sauce to spoon all over the chicken. It's just so good! You  may have read about this recipe back in Jan, but let's go through it one more time for old time's sake.

 For the chicken:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice from 2 limes
4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons sugar
4-5 lb whole chicken, spatchcocked (see the original recipe linked above for cooking times if you choose not to spatchcock the bird)

Before

During

 

After

Combine all of the ingredients (except the chicken...please don't include the chicken) in a blender or small food processor, and blend until smooth. Remove the giblets from the inside of the chicken and pat the outside of the chicken dry with paper towels. If you're spatchcocking your bird I suggest referencing this video - I can say with full confidence it is 100% impossible to spatchcock a bird and take photos at the same time! 

Using your hands, loosen the skin from the bird over the breasts and legs (try not to tear it if you can!) and spoon about 2/3 of the marinade as evenly as you can under the skin. Spread the rest evenly over the skin. Marinate in the fridge for at least six hours - overnight if you can! 

 When it's roastin time, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and roast the chicken (skin side up) for 45-60 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. At the end I like to crank up the broiler to high, move the oven rack to a few inches underneath the broiler, and broil the chicken until the skin gets super crispy - about 3 minutes. Keep a close eye during this part, because it can go from crispy to charred super quick! Allow the chicken to rest 10 minutes before you carve (this part is hard but important). Carve the thighs off at the joint, and carefully carve the breasts from the bone.

Roasty

Roasty2.0

For the green sauce: 

3 jalapeño chili peppers, seeded and roughly chopped (keep 1/2 of the seeds if you want a medium-hot sauce)
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and stems 
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
Juice from 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
A few cranks freshly grown black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and photograph in front of the Arnold Schwarzenegger poster in your kitchen. Blend until smooth, transfer to a bowl, and allow to thicken up in the fridge if desired. 

AHNOLD

Thing of beauty

 We had ours with some roasted sweet potatoes (thickly cut up 2 sweet potatoes, sprinkled with chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pep, and olive oil, and bake at 425 for about 20-30 minutes) and a handful of mixed greens - aka lazy girl salad. 

All day

Every day