Peruvian Roasted Chicken

My husband has been wanting to roast a whole chicken for awhile, he's mentioned multiple times he wants to be the master of roasting chickens in our house.  After a couple of okay previous attempts, he ended up with a success story on Tuesday night.  He used a Peruvian Roast Chicken recipe from A Bird in the Oven and Then Some. We had the chicken with a salad that I added some Peruvian aji sauce (recipe below) and chipotle creamed corn.

You can't beat making a whole chicken, it's cheap, ours was $4 for 4 pounds and can feed the two of us for the week. It's versatile so you can throw it in a variety of dishes and not get bored eating it for four or five days in a row. Also, once it's in the oven its very hands off, so it frees you up to get laundry done, do a little cleaning, watch some tv or in my husbands case, play video games. 

Recipe for Peruvian Roast Chicken
Ingredients
4 lb whole chicken
1 lemon, quartered
5 garlic cloves
sea salt
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano


Directions

Pull off excess fat around cavities of the chicken and discard. Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry, inside and out. Rub chicken with 2 lemon quarters; reserving remaining lemon quarters. From the edge of the cavity, slip a finger under the skin of each of the breasts, then gently but thoroughly loosen the skin from the meat of the breasts and thighs.

Mince garlic; and combine garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt, pressing together to make a paste. Gently push the paste into pockets you created between the chicken skin and meat, being careful not to tear the skin. Once you have put the mixture into the pockets, you can gently rub your hand over the outside of the skin to smooth out the mixture and push it farther down to the area you can't reach with your hand.

Whisk vinegar, wine, oil, paprika, cumin, black pepper and oregano in a small bowl. Put chicken into 1 gallon ziploc bag or baking dish and pour the marinade on top. Press out air and seal bag. Turn several times to distribute marinade. Place bag in bowl and refrigerate 5 to 8 hours, turning bag once or twice if you are home.

Once chicken is marinated for 5-8 hours, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Transfer chicken from bag to baking dish (I used my Le Creuset dutch oven) and pour marinade into small bowl, scrape any bits of spices into bowl with the marinade. Squeeze the remaining lemon pieces into the cavity of the bird, put the pieces in cavity and tie legs together with cotton string. Season chicken all over with 1 teaspoon sea salt

Roast bird in over for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then baste with marinade. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and continue to roast for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes, basting every 20-25 minutes with marinade, cook until juices run clear when pierced in the thick part of the thigh or meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Remove chicken from oven and allow to rest in its juices for about 10-15 minutes. 

For Salad with Peruvian Aji Sauce

Combine spinach spinach leaves, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped avocado, chopped onion, aji sauce, & balsamic vinaigrette.