Pollo Asado

I've done this recipe many times and I, and my guests, have always been blown away.

Isabel uses chicken thighs, but I've always chose to do a spatchcocked chicken and marinaded the whole bird and then slapped it on the Weber BBQ.

The citrus / tang is the star of the show, using lime juice, orange juice and white wine vinegar, and that pairs beautifully with the spices of coriander, cumin, cloves and paprika. Then we have the garlic, and the olive oil to carry everything. It's delicious.

I add some freshly chopped coriander too.

She calls for achiote paste but because I don't have that I use 2 tablespoons of annatto powder instead. Achiote paste is made from annatto seeds anyway and I think it provides the right colour and flavour, and it's that orange colour that I think is so important here.

Cook wise I usually fire up the Weber with a half basket of lit briquettes and cook the chicken using indirect heat (away from the coals) until the internal temp reaches around 130f, usually around 30 - 40 minutes.

When it's getting close to that temp, I throw another half basket of briquettes in the chimney until they're all lit, and then I move both baskets (the old coal from the indirect cooking and the freshly lit coals) central. We then place the chicken directly over the coals and sear until the internal temp reaches 160f and it'll continue cooking once removed to 165/170f (safe). This usually takes 10 - 20 minutes.

I like to place the chicken on a carving board and serve it at the table, either helping carve bits off for people or letting them do it themselves.

A great summer recipe.