Each week, we’ll look into Colorado’s recipe box and pull out a simple but tasty dish that uses ingredients grown here.
Roast Chicken
with Ancho Chile Rub
Lakewood chef Scott Meyerson developed this fragrant twist on the classic Sunday dinner for “Colorado Proud.” Turn it into a meal with some fresh sweet corn from Olathe and finish the dinner with sliced, just-ripe Western Slope peaches spooned over vanilla ice cream.
Serves 4.
Ingredients
2 dried Ancho chiles
2 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 medium red onion
2 large cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lime
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 fresh roasting chicken
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Steep the chiles in the hot water for 30 minutes. Keep them submerged with a small plate. Take the chiles from the water and remove and discard the stems and seeds. Place the chiles, mayonnaise, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, orange juice, cilantro, lime, and salt and pepper into a food processor or blender and purée to make a smooth paste. Rub the chicken inside and out with the paste.
Place the bird on a rack in a roasting pan and place in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the skin begins to brown. Reduce the oven heat to 250 degrees and roast until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 180 degrees. Remove the bird from the oven and allow it to sit for 10 minutes before carving. This allows the juices in the chicken to set.
