Spicy Roast Chicken

Not gonna lie, this was my first attempt at cooking a whole chicken. I cook with chicken breast all the time, and I've even worked with a turkey on Thanksgiving (Or at least I've watched my mom do it a thousand times), but whole chickens always kind of freaked me out. My aunt and cousins have pet chickens, so whenever I see a raw whole chicken, I kind of have a weird impulse to give it a name and a proper burial (I know, I'm a freak...). Also, you have to pull out all of its teeny tiny organs, which is slightly gross. Anyway, this Spicy Roast Chicken recipe that Boyfriend found on the Food and Wine website was absolutely delicious, and you should definitely try it! 

And if you're as freaked out about working with a whole chicken as I was, never fear....it's really not that bad! I served it with roasted asparagus and white rice, and it was sooo good. This is a great recipe for beginners!

Spicy Roast Chicken

CHICKEN

• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tablespoon water
• 1/2 tablespoon ancho chile powder (It's a little pricey, but totally worth it. If you really don't want to spend too much, regular chili powder also works.)
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped sage (Or another chicken herb...I actually used rosemary!)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• One 4-pound whole chicken, cleaned and patted dry (To clean it, just pull out all of the gross stuff, rinse it out and pat it dry!)
• 2 tablespoons pickled jalapeño peppers, sliced, plus 1/4 cup of the brine strained into a spray bottle (You can get a little spray bottle in pretty much any store in the cleaning supply aisle, or at Target where they have all of the min travel bottles!)
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

TOPPING

• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• Salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a blender, puree the Dijon mustard, water, chile powder, half of the gar­lic, 1 tablespoon of the sage, 1/2 teaspoon of the oil and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Place the chicken breast side up in an ovenproof skillet; coat with the mixture.
2. Bake the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Spray the chicken with the jalapeño brine; bake for 5 more minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes.
3. In a skillet, cook the jalapeños, parsley, lemon juice, the remaining garlic and the remaining sage in the butter and remaining oil over moderate heat until fragrant.
4. In a skillet, brown the garlic in the oil over moderate heat; discard the garlic. Add the bread crumbs, zest, parsley and cayenne and stir until the crumbs are crisp. Season with salt.
5. Top the chicken with the jalapeño butter, sprinkle with the crumbs and serve.