Pollo Asado

I’ve been too lazy to take pictures of the food I cook lately…Sorry, I can’t take the credit for this photo: found it on google. I’ve been very wrapped up in planning a wedding, so I’ve let the blog hibernate these past couple of weeks.

Last night, I was in the mood for baking chicken. I rarely make chicken…because I never know what to do with it. My childhood consisted of many baked chicken dinners, which looking back at them now, make my stomach cringe. My mother would come home from a long day at work and make dinner for the family. She’d use many unsavory shortcuts, like boxed mashed potatoes (uuuugh). Her baked chicken would either be: shake n bake or dumping a can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom on some chicken and baking it. Since growing up and moving out on my own, I’ve tried to put the past behind me….but it’s hard…it’s really hard. I can’t pass the canned soup aisle without thinking about the cream of mushroom chicken and cringing.

I decided to make my version of Pollo Asado (Cuban Roast Chicken). It was faily inexpensive to make too. I bought 2 very large chicken breasts with skin for $4.00 at the grocery store and bought a bottle of Mojo Criollo (Hispanic BBQ Sauce…usually found in the Hispanic Section). Mojo does not look like your typical bbq sauce. It’s not dark brown and thick. It’s more of a marinade than a sauce you can brush on. It mainly consists of garlic and citrus flavors and smells.oh.so.goooooood.

• Rinse the chicken and marinate the chicken in a bowl for 2 hours (or more). The longer your marinate, the better the flavor.

• Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

• Place the chicken breasts in a baking pan with a bit of olive oil at the bottom and add some freshly ground pepper and sea salt to the chicken.

• Drizzle some more mojo on the chicken and baked it for 20 minutes.

• After 20 minutes, change the cooking method to broil (high) for an additional 10 minutes to give the chicken a nice golden brown skin.

• Remove the chicken from the oven and plate it. I placed the juice that was still leftover in the pan into a bowl so it could be drizzled onto the chicken when you’re eating it.

Make this with white rice or a baked potato and a salad. It’s delicious! The mojo really soaks into the chicken and you can definitely taste the citrus. Mojo is a great kitchen staple…use it!