PLAN NO. 14

DAY 1: RECIPE

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Spatchcock chicken with aji amarillo sauce and a salad of sweet peppers, escarole, and sourdough croutons

Yield: 4

Overview: Prep the chicken, roast the chicken, add veggies, make a sauce, and toss a salad.

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Ingredients

For the chicken

• 1 whole chicken (4-5 lbs)
• 1 lb mixed sweet peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 oz sourdough bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
• extra virgin olive oil

For the aji amarillo sauce (sub: your favorite spicy creamy sauce)

• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 cup aji amarillo paste (see tip)
• 1 lemon, juiced
• ½ cup mayonnaise

For the salad

• 1 head escarole, washed and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
• edible flowers (optional)

Instructions

1. Spatchcock the chicken. Position the chicken on a cutting board or sheet tray so the backbone is facing up. Using heavy duty kitchen scissors, cut along either side of the backbone, and remove it. Discard (or reserve for stock). Flip the chicken, and press down on the breast bone to flatten it out.
2. Brine the chicken (optional). In a small saucepan combine 500 ml water with 100 grams of sugar and 100 grams of salt. Bring to a simmer and whisk to dissolve. Set aside. In a container large enough to hold both the chicken and brine (6 quart minimum), add 1500 ml cold water and your concentrated brine. Whisk together and add the chicken. Ensure that the chicken is completely submerged (weigh it down with a small plate if necessary). Refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours (and up to 1 day).
3. Preheat the oven. 450°F with the fan on. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry.
4. Roast the chicken. Place the chicken on a parchment-lined sheet tray and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Roast for about 30 minutes.
5. Add veggies and bread to the chicken tray. In a large mixing bowl, toss the peppers and torn bread with a generous amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Remove the chicken from the oven and scatter the peppers and bread around it. Bake for 20 minutes more, giving the peppers and bread a stir after 10 minutes. The chicken is cooked when the breasts are 150°F and the legs and thighs are 175°F (one of the benefits of spatchcocking is to facilitate this happening at roughly the same time).
6. Make the aji amarillo sauce. Sauté the shallots and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add the tomato and aji pastes and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely. Add the lemon juice and mayonnaise and whisk until smooth. Season to taste with salt.
7. Toss the salad. In the same mixing bowl, toss together the escarole, peppers, croutons, and any chicken drippings from the pan. Season with sherry vinegar and salt. Taste, and adjust.
8. Carve the chicken. Remove the wings. Remove the legs and split the thigh and drumstick. Remove the breasts by slicing down the breastbone. Slice the breasts against the grain into ½ inch pieces. Save the bones for stock.
9. Plate. Spoon the aji amarillo sauce onto the plate and top with an assortment of chicken. Arrange the salad next to the chicken and top with flowers.

Tip

Aji amarillo is a Peruvian yellow pepper with a fruity aroma and moderate heat. You can buy the paste at Latin markets, specialty grocers, or online. Hungarian wax pepper makes a good substitute (or habanero if you want more spice).

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DAY 2: LEFTOVERS

Penne with aji amarillo, zucchini, ricotta, and basil

Overview: Boil the pasta, make a quick sauce, cook the pasta in the sauce, garnish and serve.

Boil the penne in salted water until al dente. Drain and reserve a ladle of pasta water. Meanwhile, thinly slice a zucchini and saute it for a couple of minutes with a knob of butter - soft and sweet is the goal. Add a few spoonfuls of aji amarillo paste. Add the cooked pasta and the ladle of pasta water. Simmer gently. Stir in a few big spoonfuls of ricotta and cook gently until the sauce gets thick and creamy. Top with lots of torn basil, extra virgin olive oil, and freshly cracked black pepper.

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SHOPPING LIST

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EXTRA RECIPES

Chicken Stock

Yield: about 1 quart

Homemade chicken stock is infinitely more flavorful than anything you can buy at the store. If you’re already going to the effort of roasting a whole chicken, use those bones! It’s super easy.

INGREDIENTS

1 whole chicken (edible meat removed)

1 onion (optional)

Any old herbs, carrots, or celery from your crisper (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Roast the bones until golden brown. If you roasted a whole chicken, then congrats, this is already done! If you spatchcocked the chicken, save the backbone and roast it, too. There’s lots of flavor there.

2. Many folks add aromatics (onion, celery, carrot, garlic), spices, or herbs to their stocks. That’s great. We prefer to keep ours super clean: just the bones. This makes it very versatile. It’s up to you.

3. Put the bones in a pot with enough room for movement once the structure of the carcass begins to break down. Add water until the bones are just covered.

4. Bring to a boil, give it a stir, and turn down the heat to a bare simmer. Let the stock simmer for at least 4 hours. I find it difficult to simmer stocks with electric burners, so I often put mine in the oven at 275℉. Keep an eye on the water level. If it’s reducing too much, add some water and cover the pot.

5. Remove the stock from the heat and strain it into a heatproof container. If you’re not using it right away, cool the stock and divide it into pint containers to freeze. A pint is a very convenient quantity of stock for household use. It’ll keep in the freezer for 3 months or so.

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