Accounting for Taste

Another roast chicken recipe?? You betcha! Peruvian-Style Roast Chicken with Potatoes is a really tasty, juicy and rather easy one at that. Yes, you do need to plan on some extra time with the prep because the bird needs to get happy in the rub for at least one hour, or up to overnight. But once it’s in the oven, most of the work is done. And OMG, those potatoes, among the best I’ve ever had, seriously!

As I’ve come to learn, there are many variations on Peruvian-Style Roast Chicken, but the one thing they seem to have in common is a cumin- and paprika-spiced coating which gets added punch from an addictively tangy green sauce. Those crispy/creamy potatoes don’t suffer from a drizzle of that sauce either.

These directions have you cut only one side of the backbone, while I spatchcocked (removed backbone entirely) our chicken and added the back to our bag of “body parts” for making stock. And in lieu of the olive oil and grated garlic, I used a homemade concoction of our roasted garlic and EVOO and spread it all over the poultry before adding the spice mixture. Basically the same difference, it just saved me the step of grating garlic cloves.

Once that was done, I put into the fridge, covered with tinfoil, and let the mixture do its magic for 8 hours. If the aromas don’t having you swooning while dinner is roasting, just wait until you have your first taste—love at first bite.

Peruvian-Style Roast Chicken with Potatoes

Servings: 4
Time: 2 hrs, 20 min+
Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp.sweet paprika
1 tsp. dried oregano
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1 whole chicken, 4-5 lbs.
5 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, 3 finely grated, 1 chopped
2 1/2 lbs. russet potatoes (about 4)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish
1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1/2 cop mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°. Combine cumin, paprika, oregano, 1 Tbsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper.
With kitchen shears, cut chicken along its backbone along one side; open like a book. (Or remove backbone entirely and save for a future use such as homemade stock.) Place on a rimmed baking sheet, breast-side up; press down flat.
Rub all over with 2 Tbsp. oil and grated garlic. Sprinkle with spice mixture. Let stand 1 hours (or refrigerate, covered for several hours or overnight).
In a sauce pan, cover potatoes with 2″ of water and bring to a boil; add a generous amount of salt. Boil until just tender, 11 to 13 minutes.
Drain and immediately return to pan; toss with remaining 3 Tbsp. of oil and season with salt and pepper. (Potatoes will break apart slightly.)
Scatter potatoes around chicken on rimmed baking sheet. Roast until chicken is golden and a thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 160°, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer chicken to a cutting board, and let rest while potatoes continue cooking.
Flip potatoes and continue to roast until golden and crisp, 5 to 10 minutes more.
Meanwhile, purée cilantro, jalapeño, chopped garlic, mayonnaise, lime juice and 1 Tbsp. water. (If sauce is too thick, add more water 1 tsp. at a time.) Season with salt.
Carve chicken and serve with potatoes and cilantro sauce, garnished with cilantro leaves and lime wedges.