We love our roast chickens over here. My husband and I have been having them since we were newly married and our kitchen was a tiny galley-type in our first apartment. We now have two children and a slightly bigger kitchen (emphasis on the slightly) and our love for good old roast chicken continues. Now my children wait patiently (sometimes not too patiently) for me to take the chicken out of the oven…and I cut choice bits to pop into their waiting mouths and hands…and am endlessly thrilled when they approve. We have, in fact, just recently graduated from a one-chicken family to a two-chicken family! Yes, the one roast is no longer enough for us four…and of course, there must be leftovers for lunch the next day! And if I’m lucky, a little bit more to scrape together some chicken salad spread (which I love). The carcass then gets tucked away into the freezer for future chicken stock. There is always something so satisfying, and even celebratory, about bringing a whole roast chicken to the table. Sweat on brow, hands in oven mitts firmly holding the baking dish, triumphant smile as you see eyes light up… “Dinner’s on!” “Make space! Make space!” “Careful, it’s hot!” “Mmmm! Smells good!” “I want a leg!” These are the memories I keep with me and I hope my children keep with them. I remember my mother making chicken at home when I was a child. Whether whole, or in pieces, I could always see the familiar Magnolia wrapper in our freezer (as well as all their ice cream! Does anyone remember flavor of the month??). Did you know that their chickens are free of hormones and steroids? I certainly did not know this when I was younger (and filled with hormones myself…wait, did I just say that???) but as a mom these things become more important. Not that I can say that our lives are totally all-natural free of the odd chemical…but I do my best to seek out options that are better for us (and the rest I just choose not to feel guilty about). So. Anyway. When they approached me to do something for them, the wheels in my brain immediately started turning. Do I do something old and familiar? Or something new and different? I decided to do a little of both…turning our beloved adobo into a classic roast chicken, and still retaining everything we love about eating adobo. The idea here was to have the chicken adobo-flavored, but dry-heat-cooked like a traditional roast, BUT also have a sauce to enjoy with rice as with regular adobo. I used all the traditional flavors of adobo here (soy, vinegar, black pepper, garlic, bay) but applied them in different ways and at different stages of pre-cooking/cooking. And what you get is this chicken.
