Oven-Roasted Mojito Chicken

This is an easy chicken dish that's full of vibrant but mild flavors.  I found it in the Dinosaur BBQ cookbook, and even though I had never seen had it at their restaurant in many dozens of visits there, I could tell that it had potential.  Some combination of the garlic, the slowly sauteed onions bathed in drippings, and the citrus-tenderized chicken made this dish hard to beat, and able to stand on its own as a centerpiece or complement a latin feast, as I did last night.

The name of the dish refers to the sauce that is used as a marinade for the dish.  There are a couple of kinds of mojo sauce, much like the words "curry" or "salsa" can be confusing, but we're focused on the Cuban variant here.  Searching for some backstory has led me to others that will be featured in future recipes.  Traditionally served over pork and/or yuca when referring to the Cuban mojo sauce, this is most commonly defined by a mixture of bitter orange juice, garlic, olive oil, and oregano.  Omit the oregano and you get mojito marinade, not to be confused with the minty rum drink.  This recipe does contain oregano, it's not enough to dominate the flavor, so I won't change the title to indicate the parent sauce.  Also, since I have never seen bitter oranges for sale, I stick to a ratio of 8 parts regular OJ to 1 part lime juice, and freshly squeezed for both whenever possible.





The marinade recipe here is a bit dangerous, in that you add cold citrus juice to very hot oil.  So if you're going to follow this exactly, make sure to wear long sleeves and stand back.  Also, it makes triple what you would need for a small chicken, and can be kept the unused sauce in a pitcher in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

And finally, a word on Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, perhaps the finest bbq joint I've ever eaten at in all my days.  Live music, contract brewed local beer, and a slow-cooking wood burning smokehouse out back (at least, they have this at the original ones).  I have waited for 2 hours to eat here, and haven't been disappointed.  If you haven't been to one, I highly suggest you seek one out.  There are now 8 locations, originally only two in upstate NY, but now including 2 in NYC and one in Chicago soon.  Best ribs, cornbread, chili, fried green tomatoes, and cole slaw I've ever had, and their brisket and pulled pork pair nicely with everything else in the tres hombres platter.  Come hungry, leave happy.  Show up on a Harley if you've got one, and you will be well received.


Oven-Roasted Mojito Chicken
from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que cookbook

• 1 chicken (3 1/2 pounds), cut into 8 pieces
• 1 cup mojito marinade (see below)
• 1 large onion, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley or cilantro, for garnish
• lime wedges, for garnish

Spread the chicken out in a baking dish, and pour the mojito marinade over it. Get personal with the pieces and rub some of the marinade right up under the skin. Marinate the chicken for 4 hours, or overnight, in the fridge, making sure marinade fully covers chicken (place in a large bag, or in a pot where you have squished the chicken down under the marinade).

Turn the oven on to 375°. Scatter the onion slices over the bottom of a roasting pan, and put the chicken on top, skin side up. Save the remaining marinade and boil, to kill off any chicken germs.  Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting every 20 minutes with the boiled marinade, until the chicken is golden and cooked through.

Lift the chicken pieces out of the pan and arrange them on a platter. Stir up the pan juices, adding a bit of unused mojito marinade (if you have it) to wake up the flavors. Spoon the onions and pan juices over the chicken. Sprinkle with parsley or cilantro and garnish the dish with lime wedges. Get everybody to squeeze some lime over their portion for added flavor. Serve with rice.

Serve with rice, beans, yuca, and maybe a mojito or two.  The rest of these recipes soon to come!

Mojito Marinade
from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que cookbook

• 1/4 cup chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups fresh orange juice   <- replace these with bitter orange juice if you can find it
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice      <- replace these with bitter orange juice if you can find it
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro 

Mix together the garlic, onions, orange juice, and lime juice in a bowl. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan until just smoking.  Cover up your arms and put some potholder mitts on your hands, and slide the contents of the bowl into the hot oil — be very careful because the liquid will splatter.  Simmer for 5 minutes to soften the onions and garlic.  Season the marinade with the rest of the ingredients.  Pour everything into a blender or food processor and pulse 3 times to combine.  Pour into a plastic container and cool to room temperature; then cover and refrigerate.  Marinade keeps for up to 2 weeks.