Mojito Chicken

This is a recipe from the crazy bleached blonde guy from Food Network, Guy Fiere. I like most of his recipes, some, not so much!

I served this Saturday night and it was the first time I had cut the spine out of a whole chicken to cook it flat. I have roasted chickens so many times but never thought of doing this to make the chicken cook faster and more evenly.

Mojito Chicken

4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) chicken (I used a 5 pound chicken and extended the cooking time)
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

Marinade, recipe follows

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Mojito Glaze, recipe follows

Directions
Remove backbone of chicken with poultry shears; flatten chicken out by pressing firmly on skin part of chicken so it will sit evenly in a pan.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine all the dry spices and rub chicken with spice mixture, especially under the skin. Put into a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients for the marinade, then add chicken to marinade and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Remove chicken from marinade and shake off excess marinade. In a large saute pan over medium to high heat, add 4 tablespoons of extra- virgin olive oil. When oil is hot, place chicken skin side down and sear.

When skin is golden brown flip chicken and add 1/2 cup of marinade into pan; place pan in oven and cook the chicken for 25 minutes or until chicken has internal temperature of 165 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove the chicken from oven and brush with Mojito Glaze. Place chicken under broiler for 5 minutes. Remove from broiler, cut and serve immediately with more glaze on the side.

Marinade:
1 cup orange juice
2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sliced garlic
1/4 cup dark rum (I use Whalers Dark Rum, very good!!)
Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl.

Mojito Glaze:
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In medium sauce pot, place rum, chicken broth and brown sugar. Reduce by 1/3 over high heat. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch. When rum mixture is reduced, add cornstarch mixture slowly to simmering liquid and whisk for 3 minutes, until 50 percent thicker. Keep in mind that you might not need all of it. When glaze is at desired thickness, add mint leaves and transfer to small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

This was delicious and I served it with homemade sweet potato fries (oven baked) and a homemade key lime pie, YUM!!

And tonight we had the Wonders family over and had Marinated Flank Steak which I have shared with you recently. You've gotta try it.

I made this for dessert:

Chocolate Chip Pie

Ingredients

Pie:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (2-sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts, optional (I omitted due to our guests' allergies)

Whipped cream:
2 pints (4-cups) heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Garnish:
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) pie plates; set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, and mix until fully combined. Fold in the 3 cups chocolate chips and, if desired, the walnuts. Divide the dough between the prepared pie plates and smooth the tops with a spatula.

Bake about 30 minutes or until pies are golden and slightly firm to the touch but still soft. If the pies begin to darken too much before they are baked through, cover with foil and continue baking. Let pies cool completely on a wire rack.

While the pies cool, whip the cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Refrigerate whipped cream until ready to use. Spread the whipped cream over the pies, sprinkle mini chocolate chips for garnish and serve.

I apologize that my scrapbooking blog has turned into a cooking blog that will soon turn into a baseball blog! Thats just how I roll, lol. Thanks for following and much love to you!

~L
♥♥♥