Mexican Roast Chicken

Recipe at a glance

4 lbs of potatoes (usually about 7-8 small potatoes or 4-5 large ones)
1 leek
1 large lemon (or 2 small)
3-4 lb whole chicken
kosher salt and pepper (to taste)
4-6 oz of Mexican chorizo (base the amount you use on the size of the bird)
small bunch of cilantro or parsley stems and leaves

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 hr 15 min
Utensil/bowl use: Minimal – sauce pot, knife, cutting board
Difficulty: Easy
Serve for: several weeknight dinners or dinner for a group

Roast chicken is one of my favorite meals. It has everything: simplicity, tastiness, and can be dressed up or dressed down. And when a total of two people are eating it, it can last all week. All parts of this recipe go great as other things – filling in tacos and quesidillas, toppings on pizza, added to fritatas, etc. It may take an hour today, but it will save you time tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. On top of all this, it is cheap.

Now, don’t worry about buying the whole bird. Just do it. It might be a little gross and a little unwieldy at first, but I promise the whole bird is where it is at. I promise. There will be gizzards and I know that word sounds gross, but all you have to do with them is throw them away. Yes, there will be bones left over that resemble something that was a living creature at one time, but this is ok too. It is a good thing to remind yourself of what exactly you are eating in this processed food world of ours.

This recipe is not hard and I don’t have any shortcuts. It is real, plain, and amazing. It makes your kitchen smell peppery and fragrant in an instant. It tastes ambrosial after its hour-long stay in the oven.

The base of this recipe is the chicken and potatoes. Feel free to add as much or as little to it as you want. I often add seasonal roasting vegetables that I tend to have on hand. Here, I added a single leek because I like its mild oniony taste that really infuses with the chorizo. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Whatever accent vegetable you choose, make sure to wash it well. Leeks require a bit of extra washing because of the dirt that gets buried in between the stalk. Usually a bit of soaking will loosen out that dirt, as will chopping and then washing.

I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. Leek, that is, my leek. You can wash after chopping too.

Roughly chop the white and light green parts of the leek. Don’t cut much more than I have here. The darker green parts are tougher and tend to taste bitter.

Next, put a lemon in boiling water for about 5 minutes while you are chopping the potatoes. You can boil it in the pot that you are going to roast the chicken. (I didn’t do that though.) The hot lemon will go inside the chicken to make it extra juicy and cook faster from the inside. Especially, it will add to the ridiculous aroma that will taunt you while the chicken is cooking.

Roughly chop about 7-8 small potatoes or 4 larger ones. I don’t tend to take the time to weigh my produce in the store and generally just eyeball it. You will want enough potatoes to make about a two-three inch deep bed in the pan for the chicken to roast on. I personally like the skin on my potatoes but feel free to peel them if you want.

Put potatoes in a heavy, oven safe saucepan or roasting dish.

Mix in the leeks. Mixing the vegetables is important because thinner vegetables can burn on the bottom of the pan if you happen to omit this step. I learned this the hard way.

Get your roasting chicken. Aim for a 3-4 lb chicken. I happen to have a local Amish brand of chicken that I like  but don’t interpret this as an endorsement for Amish chickens. Amish can mean just about anything and does not, and probably will not, mean organic, free-range, hormone-free, or whatever else you might want your chicken to be. I simply prefer this particular brand because it is local, it tastes good, and falls off the bone better than other types of chicken I have tried. Unless you live in the greater Chicagoland area, you probably won’t be able to find this brand. I do recommend trying to find a higher quality bird than the common bird you can find in the meat fridge as the meat is usually more tender and will be easier to debone.

Throw out whatever is hanging out in the cavity of the chicken and check the wings and legs to make sure they aren’t sporting any feathers. I promise most won’t have any feathers. Place the chicken on top of the potatoes.

Prick the lemon with a knife several times and stick it in the waiting cavity.

Sprinkle chicken and potatoes with Kosher or sea salt and pepper. You will want to use enough salt to lightly coat the skin of the chicken. Kosher salt has a larger grain than common table salt and works especially well on meat. The salt does not dissolve into the meat and instead draws liquid out of the meat. However, if regular salt is all you have, that works fine too, just use a fair bit less so you don’t coat the chicken. Often with salting meat, err on the side of caution if you aren’t sure how much is too much.

Here is an idea of how much pepper I use.

Now for the crowning glory of this dish, the chorizo. Remove about 6 oz of chorizo from its casing. I prefer to use Mexican style chorizo. It is a bit more flavorful, spreadable, and much more abundant than Spanish chorizo. Most grocery stores that serve a decent sized Hispanic population will have this stuff. It is fantastic. Look for chorizo that is bright red and looks like it is all paprika. I have seen some Americanized chorizo that looks like hot italian sausage and while tasty, it will not have the same effect.

This sausage is very wet and almost putty-like compared to regular sausage. All the more easy to spread over the chicken!

Spread 4-6oz of chorizo on the outside of the chicken and in between the chicken and potatoes. Tuck some under the wings and legs. I also put some under the skin on the breasts. Use your hands if you want, it is easier to stick it to the chicken. The flavor of the chorizo will infuse with the potatoes during cooking and they will be heavenly.

Finally, stuff some cilantro or parsley into the cavity and sprinkle a few leaves on top of the potato mixture. Add any extra salt that you might want. Put pot into a 425 degree oven and wait for an hour.

When done, the chicken will be a caramel colored, golden brown with toasted flecks. Some of the chorizo might be slightly crispy. Feel free to throw the crispy pieces away fi you don’t like them.

Cut off a few pieces chicken for your meal and remove the whole chicken from the pot. If you want to brown the potatoes a bit more, stir the potatoes and put the pot back in the oven for about 5 minutes. Besides, the chicken needs a few minutes to cool.

Ta Da!

Now I always carve the rest of the chicken about an hour afterwards so that it is cool enough to the touch, but that is by no means the only way.

I also like shredding the chicken by hand and fork. It is a messy kitchen I run here at Supper Before Grace. I have to admit though, taking pictures of your cooking makes you a bit more cognizant of your messes and I hope I get to most of them before the camera does.

Here is what I have left over. This should keep my tiny household running for a few days. If only the rich aroma of the chicken would last that long.

Mexican Roast Chicken (wildly adapted from Jamie Oliver when I couldn’t find spanish chorizo)

4 lbs of potatoes (usually about 7-8 small potatoes or 4-5 large ones)
1 leek
1 large lemon (or 2 small)
3-4 lb whole chicken
kosher salt and pepper (to taste)
4-6 oz of Mexican chorizo (base the amount you use on the size of the bird)
small bunch of cilantro or parsley stems and leaves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Boil lemon for 5 minutes. Coarsely chop potatoes (~1 to 1.5 inch dice) and leek using only the white and light green parts. Place potatoes and leeks in a large, heavy sauce pan and mix. Place chicken on top of potatoes. Pierce lemon several times with a knife and place in chicken cavity. Season chicken and potato mixture with salt and pepper. Insert cilantro stems into chicken cavity with lemon. Sprinkle leaves on potato mixture, reserve some for serving. Smear or place a portion of the chorizo on the chicken. Insert some more chorizo under the wings and legs. Place the rest of the chorizo in between the chicken and potatoes.

Cook the chicken for 1 hour. At the one hour mark, check chicken for doneness. If it is not done, add about 15 more minutes.

Once done, remove the chicken from the pot. Give the potatoes a quick stir and put the pot with just the potato mixture back into the oven for 5-10 minutes. Carve the chicken during this time. Serve with the potato mixture.