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.

Pollo Asado con Mojo

If you ever worry that you've lost your mojo, do not worry - there's a way to get it back.  Mojo, after all, is more than a magical charm bag used in hoodoo, it's also a delicious Cuban sauce.  Wikipedia defines mojo (pronounced "mo-ho") as: 

"...the name, or abbreviated name, of several types of sauces, varying in spiciness, that originated in the Canary Islands. It is predominantly either a red (most common), green or orange sauce.... In Cuban cooking mojo applies to any sauce that is made with garlic, olive oil and a citrus juice, traditionally sour orange juice. It is commonly used to flavor the cassava tuber and is also used to marinate roast pork. "

I learned about mojo from my old boss, who was Cuban.  He taught me how to make it to go over yuca, which turned a bland starchy tuber into delicious garlicky exotica.  It's typically the same few core ingredients - garlic, oil, cumin, and a tart citrus juice - conventionally bitter orange, but since this is hard to find usually just orange and lime juice.  And while I've never used it for roast pork, I have used it with roasted chicken in a recipe from the Dinosaur BBQ cookbook (highly recommended, by the way).  So I'm no stranger to this stuff, and have made it a few different ways.  But I wanted to try something a little safer than the last time I made it, which involved heating up a bunch of oil and then adding orange juice, leading to many burns and much less arm hair at the end.  This recipe had some similarities to that, but seemed more appropriate for a Memorial Day cookout and safer to boot, so I gave it a shot.  It did not disappoint, and I came away without permanent scarring.

Pollo asado con mojo, with homemade cole slaw and agua fresca de pepino.  And a little flag - Memorial Day for the win.

Mojo Roast Chicken (Pollo Asado)
Adapted lightly from Allrecipes

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
•  3 tablespoons lime juice 
• 3 tablespoons orange juice 
• 1 (6 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until very hot.  While the oil heats, mash the cumin, salt, oregano, and garlic together into a paste in a heat-proof bowl; whisk the hot oil into the paste.  Allow the mixture to cool slightly.
 

Crush up your whole cumin - don't use the powdered stuff.  Toast them first for maximum flavor.

Whisk the herbs and hot oil together in a heatproof bowl

Mojo is the perfect combination of aromatic infused oil and tart citrus - use bitter orange if you can find it, or orange and lime if you can't

Add the lime juice and orange juice; stir.  And don't use that nasty lime juice from a bottle, or I will come find you and give you the look of eternal shaming.  Place the chicken in a large sealable bag; pour the marinade over the chicken and shake to assure an even coating. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, up to overnight.

Marinate the chicken for a few hours at least, to break down the fibers with the acidic mojo sauce

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), or grill over low / indirect heat.  Arrange the marinated chicken in a roasting pan if baking.  Bake / grill chicken in the preheated oven until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 1 hour.  If grilling, take the reserved marinade and boil in a small saucepan to sanitize, then bring down and baste over the chicken periodically.  An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone should read 180 degrees F (82 degrees C).

Grill over low heat, basting regularly

This recipe goes great with plantains, rice, fries, yuca, or traditional American picnic sides just the same.