Published March 1, 2011. From Cook's Illustrated.
For our Peruvian Roast Chicken with Garlic and Lime recipe, we recommended salting the bird and rubbing a flavorful paste all over the meat; this dried out the skin and jump-started our dish’s flavor. Mint and smoked paprika served as convenient alternatives to traditional hard-to-find Peruvian ingredients. A vertical roaster and two-pronged cooking process worked just as well as a rotisserie and gave our Peruvian Roast Chicken perfectly cooked meat and crisp skin.
This recipe calls for a vertical poultry roaster. If you don’t have one, substitute a 12-ounce can of beer. Open the beer and pour out (or drink) about half of the liquid. Spray the can lightly with nonstick cooking spray and proceed with the recipe. If the top of the chicken is becoming too dark during roasting in step 3, place a 7-inch-square piece of foil over the neck and wingtips. If habanero chiles are unavailable, 1 tablespoon of minced serrano chile can be substituted. Wear gloves when working with hot chiles.
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