This weekend, I had planned to start cooking my way through the Dinner, Changing the Game cookbook by Melissa Clark. On the menu was Chile-Rubbed Chicken.
My first step was to visit Sages Meat Market, a new specialty meat market in Oswego. The shop may be small, but the options are plentiful! The display cases are full of meats farmed from local sources, some already prepared in super flavorful marinades, in individual, vacuum-sealed servings. Today I had one of the butchery staff spatchcock two chickens for me. One for this recipe and one for later in the week.
While I was there, I saw that they had fire roasted poblano compound butter in the case. Although the Melissa Clark recipe called for more of a lime-chipotle rub, I couldn't pass up the butter and figured I could easily incorporate it into the recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken, spatchcocked (butterflied)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon ancho chile powder
- 4 individual portions of roasted poblano compound butter (about 2 tablespoons per portion)
- Zest of one lime, plus lime wedges for serving
Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix three portions of the compound butter with the lime zest and ancho chile powder. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then rub the butter all over the chicken (season and butter both sides). Set the chicken skin side up on a sheet pan, drizzle with a little bit of canola oil, then cook the chicken for 45-55 minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear. Let the chicken rest 10 minutes on a cutting board before slicing and serving.
I roasted potatoes on a separate sheet pan while the chicken was cooking. I cut the potatoes into cubes and tossed those with about 10 whole shallots. I seasoned the potatoes and shallots generously with salt, pepper, garlic powder, ancho chile powder, and the remaining portion of the compound butter. I added a few tablespoons of canola oil, just to make sure the potatoes were well coasted. The potatoes will (and did) burn at 450 degrees if you leave them in the full cooking time. At 450 degrees, they probably only need 35-40 minutes. Check them at 20 minutes and flip them. Keep an eye on them after that or...you can guess what happens. I also squeezed a bit of lime on the (burnt) potatoes before serving them. The flavor was good, but I would probably NOT use the butter until the end next time. I would let the potatoes cook with the oil only, then toss them with the compound butter when they came out of the oven.
Enough about the unsuccessful potatoes! The good news is that the chicken turned out super moist with crispy skin. The hint of lime was present in every bite and the heat from the poblano and ancho was subtle but left a nice aftertaste. As you can see above, I poured the pan juices on the chicken before serving. Melissa Clark's recipe calls for an herby avocado sauce, which I didn't make this time, but it sounded delicious! Will do my best to follow the recipe more closely next time!
Enjoy!