Jalapeño Roast Chicken with Baby Broccoli
- ½ cup (packed) fresh oregano leaves
- 1 shallot
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 jalapeño chile, stemmed and seeded
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- One 5½-pound whole roasting chicken
- 1½ cups chicken broth, or more if needed
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 2 pounds baby broccoli (see Tip)
Instructions:
This recipe is so easy and yields such a flavorful, succulent chicken that I doubt any rotisserie place in your neighborhood can rival it. And I doubt you’ll have leftovers. But if you do, go to town with tortillas, beans, avocado, and any of the salsas in this book and make tacos.
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Combine the oregano, shallot, garlic, butter, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the jalapeño, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in a food processor, and process to form a coarse paste.
- Pat the chicken dry and then place it, breast side up, on a rack in a large roasting pan. Using your fingers, loosen the skin from the chicken breast, legs, and thighs without detaching it.
- Spread half of the jalapeño paste under the skin. Tie the chicken legs together with kitchen string. Spread the remaining jalapeño paste all over the outside of the chicken.
- Pour the chicken broth and wine into the roasting pan.
- Roast the chicken for 1 hour, basting with the pan juices every 20 minutes and adding more broth to the pan if it’s beginning to dry out.
- Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Arrange the baby broccoli snugly around the chicken on the rack. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over the broccoli, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the chicken with the baby broccoli, basting occasionally with the pan juices, until a meat thermometer inserted into the innermost part of the thigh (but not touching the bone) registers 160°F, about 30 minutes.
- Place the chicken on a platter, surround it with the baby broccoli, and serve