Once I realized how easy it is to make an entire chicken, my life has changed significantly for the better.
This recipe is a hybrid of a Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken recipe that has been passed down by a Peruvian friend and combined with Caribbean flavors (my go-to seasonings that are always in my pantry). The recipe is very convenient because it is very difficult to mess up and once it is done you can either have a dinner party with several guests or keep it in the refrigerator and transform it throughout the week into many dishes.
Yield: 6-8 servings
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 90 minutes
Equipment:
- Chopping knife
- Blender or food processor
- Plastic or large bag
- Turkey baster
- Large baking dish
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken (about 5 pounds)
- 1 quart of water
- Juice of 1 lemon
Marinade:
- ¼ cup of orange juice
- ¼ cup of white wine
- 1/8 cup of olive oil
- 3 tablespoons of paprika
- 2 tablespoons of cumin
- 2 tablespoons of oregano
- 1 tablespoon of jalapeno (can adjust depending on spice level)
- Juice of 2 limes
- 2 teaspoons of ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons of ground cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 1 whole white chopped onion (into thick pieces)
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 tablespoons of roughly chopped cilantro (save 1 tablespoon for garnish)
- 3 tablespoons of freshly chopped thyme (optional)
Instructions:
Squeeze the lemon juice into the quart of water and wash the entire chicken with the lemon water. Make sure to cut any excess fat from the chicken
Combine all the marinade ingredients into a blender or food processor to create a somewhat thick paste. If you want the marinade to be more liquid, you can add more orange juice or white wine.
With a knife make deep and long insertions into the chicken (this will allow for the marinade to go into the meat of the chicken and not just the surface.
Spread the marinade all over the chicken to all the crevices. You can pull the skin off the meat so spread the marinade under the skin. Take the pieces of onion, cilantro, thyme, and garlic and place them inside the insertions made. Put other pieces in between the skin and the chicken meat.
Place the chicken inside the large bag and wrap tightly. Store in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours. For optimal flavors, leave overnight, but do not leave out for more than 24 hours.
Once you are ready to cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and place on a large baking dish. Bake the chicken at 375 degrees for 90 minutes (or until golden brown and meat inside the chicken should not be pink). Every half hour you can take out the chicken and use a turkey baster to retrieve the chicken liquid from the pan and pour it over the chicken.
Before the chicken is ready, change the temperature to a low broil for 5 minutes to get a crunchy skin.
Once ready, squeeze a few lime wedges and add some cilantro to garnish. It can be paired with any dipping sauce!
