Southwestern Chicken with Garlic-Ancho Chile Paste and Gravy
rec.food.cooking/Ninette R Enrique (1994)
Serves 4-6

I made this last night. The chicken was so flavorful and juicy--plain old delicious!--that I thought I would pass it along.

The chicken is first rubbed over and underneath the skin with a paste made from roasted garlic and dried ancho chilies and then roasted at a high temperature. Harold McGee, kitchen scientist extraordinaire, found this technique, accompanied with turning the chicken once and basting with butter, turned out the best results.

I served the chicken with corn, dirty rice (a rice cooked with sauteed veggies in chicken broth), and a gravy made from the leftover paste and chicken broth.

Since the oven was on, I made apple crisp for dessert and cooked it while we were eating. Prep time took about 2 hrs.

The garlic-ancho chile paste and gravy is based on a recipe posted in the 11/94 edition of Bon Appetit.

PASTE

1 head garlic
1 dried ancho chile, seeded, stem removed, and torn into pieces
2 TBS corn or vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. honey

1 chicken (3 1/2 to 5 lbs.), giblets, kidneys, and excess fat removed, and chicken rinsed and dried
Aromatics (onions, celery, citrus fruit, herbs, etc.)
1/4 cup melted butter

GRAVY
3 tbs. flour
Up to 2 cups chicken broth

ROAST GARLIC: Preheat oven to 350 deg. Separate head of garlic into cloves. Do not peel. Poke each clove with a toothpick and spread out on a baking sheet. Put in oven and bake about 25 minutes, until the garlic is tender and beginning to brown. The smaller cloves will probably be done before 25 minutes, so take them out first. Cool 5 minutes. Peel, cut off the hard tips, and transfer garlic to food processor bowl. Process into a coarse puree.

Note: Don't be alarmed by the amount of the garlic. When roasted, the garlic takes on a sweet, mellow flavor and so can be used in large quantities.

SIMMER CHILE: As the garlic is roasting, put the chile is a small saucepan and add water to cover. Simmer over low-medium heat until chile is soft and water is almost evaporated, about 15 minutes.

MAKE PASTE: Add to garlic puree, the chile, oil, cumin, and honey. Process until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Can be made and refrigerated up to a week ahead.

GET READY FOR THE OVEN: Adjust oven rack to middle position. Heat oven to 500 deg. Prepare roasting pan by covering with aluminum foil (roasting at high heat is messy business). Place in roasting pan a V-rack, which has been lightly oiled, or a regular rack, also lightly oiled, that has been elevated to a level slightly above the edge of the pan by placing 4 crumpled balls of aluminum foil underneath (this is so the chicken will cook and brown evenly).

Rinse and dry chicken. Slowly separate skin from breast by sticking fingers in from the neck side and working fingers and hand in. Be careful not to rip the skin. Set aside 1/4 cup of paste (this is for the gravy). Use the rest of the paste to stuff between the skin and the breast and to rub the outside and inside of the chicken with. After that, season the inside and outside of the bird with salt and pepper and stuff bird with aromatics of your choice.

Place chicken, backside up (breast side down), on rack. Roast chicken, brushing bird with butter or pan juices, every 8-10 minutes. (If pan juices begin to spatter loudly, add some water to the pan and do this as necessary).

After 20 minutes (small chicken) to 30 minutes (near 5 lb. chicken), season legs and turn chicken, breast side up, pouring juices from body cavity into pan. Baste and return to oven.

After another 20-30 minutes, basting every 8-10 minutes, or 40 min. total cooking time (small bird) to 50 min. total cooking time (large bird), check inner breast temp. by inserting thermometer from neck-end along ribs. When thermometer registers 148-150 deg., the breast is done. When breast is done, check temp. at thigh meat closest to the body. It should be at least 160 deg.

Note: If you have to cook more than 40 minutes (the breast should be browned by then), turn the oven down to 325 deg. to finish cooking. Prop oven door open for 1-2 minutes. to bring oven temp. down quickly.

When the chicken is done, tip cavity juices in pan and poke skin below thigh to release under-skin juices. Let rest 20 minutes before serving.

MAKE GRAVY: While the chicken is resting, make the gravy. If you have any pan juices, transfer to a Pyrex 2 cup liquid measuring cup. Degrease. Add chicken broth to reach 2 cups.

Take leftover 1/4 cup paste and put in saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until it liquefies. Whisk in flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Slowly and gradually add chicken broth. Add enough chicken broth to reach desired consistency (you might not need all 2 cups). Simmer gently 5-10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

SERVE: Carve chicken and place on serving platter. Serve with gravy and side dishes of your choice.