Recipe: Pollo al Asador (Mexican)

POLLO AL ASADOR

"On the main street of Ensenada, the smell of grilling chicken starts wafting on the breeze just before the sun reaches its zenith, a siren scent that draws you halfway across town to where a busy asadero grills butterflied chickens on his huge wood-fired grill.

Nearby, the smell of wood smoke also permeates a restaurant, where plump golden brown chickens spin over blazing oak fires on makeshift rotisseries. A cook rolls out flour tortillas, flings them onto a huge comal to cook, and clips the cooked tortillas into a cloth-lined basket to be delivered to your table along with the roast chicken, a dish of charro beans, and lemon quarters. The chicken is juicy, smoky, and lightly charred. With a squirt of lemon, it might be the best chicken ever.

The process described below produces deliciously smoky, juicy chicken, without the fuss of a rotisserie. You can use any kind of chicken, but I like to use little Cornish hens - one per person."

1 cup hickory or mesquite chips (1/4-inch size)
4 Rock Cornish hens (or bone-in, skin-on chicken quarters)*
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Flour tortillas
Frijoles Borrachos (recipe)
Lemon wedges

Soak the wood chips in water for 1 hour. Drain and spread out in a disposable pie tin.

Prepare a medium fire in a barbecue or gas grill and set the pan of chips on the fire. Close the lid until the chips begin to smoke about 5 minutes. Turn down the heat on half of the grill to medium-low.

Rinse hens and pat dry. With kitchen shears, cut out the backbone. Turn each hen breast up, grab both legs and bend the knees toward the center, popping leg joins and flattening the hen. Take hold of the wings from behind, set your thumbs on the breastbone, and press down firmly. Tuck the wings joints behind. Coat with oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper on all sides. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Lay the hens breast side down on the cool side of the grill. Close the lid tightly to keep in heat and smoke and cook for 15 minutes. Turn and cook breast side up for 15 minutes. Continue to cook, checking every 5 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer reads 170 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh.

Remove the hens to a warm platter and cover loosely with foil while you heat the tortillas.

TO SERVE:
Serve with the natural juices from the platter poured over each serving and with the tortillas, beans, and lemon wedges.

*VARIATION:
You can also do a whole chicken this way. Cut out the back and flatten the chicken. It will take about 45 minutes to cook, turning every 15 minutes.

Servings: 4
Source: Baja! Cooking on the Edge by Deborah M. Schneider