MOJITO CHICKEN: THE MOST FLAVORFUL, JUICY OVEN-ROASTED CHICKEN

A house filled with incredible fragrances and a truly home-cooked meal don't get any easier than this.

I had forgotten about this wonderful dish until I was placing a few new recipes in my file last week. I first made it when I invited a group of teachers to our new home shortly after my retirement. While you can buy bottled mojito sauce, I very much doubt that it would be as flavorful. The marinade/sauce is so simple to put together, I don't know why you'd want to buy it ready-made anyway. My suggestion is to make the marinade and soak the chicken in it the day before you want to eat the dish, though 4 hours in the marinade will produce a great deal of flavor as well.

You will have lots of sauce left over. In fact, the next time I make this, I believe I'll use half the mojito sauce and freeze the other half. I served this with yellow rice to soak up some of the wonderful sauce. Larry is having leftover shredded chicken on savoury scones for lunch tomorrow (I had frozen half the dough for my cheddar dill scones and made them this morning).

Mojito Marinade

1/4 cup chopped garlic

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cups orange juice

1/2 cup lime juice

1/2 cup olive oil

4 tsp sea salt

1 tbs black pepper

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tbs 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. Now very, very carefully do something you generally know to be a bad practice: cover your arms and use mits to slide the contents of the bowl into the hot oil. Be very careful because the liquid will spatter, but this will produce great flavor release. Simmer for 5 minutes, season with the remaining ingredients. Now pour everything into a blender and pulse 3 times to combine. Cool to room temperature. May be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Oven-roasted Mojito Chicken

3 1/2 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces

1 cup Mojito marinade

cilantro and lime wedges for garnish

Spread the chicken in a baking dish and pour the marinade over all. Rub some of the marinade right p under the skin. Marinate overnight--or at least 4 hours--in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour the remaining marinade over the chicken pieces and roast for exactly 1 hour and 15 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and garnish with lime wedges. This is finger-licking good!