Ingredients
* 8 to 10 (10 g) dried chili peppers
* 2 red bell peppers
* 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
* 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
* 4 cloves of garlic
* 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
* 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
* 2 tablespoons sea salt, divided
* 1 (4 1/2-to 5 1/2 lb.) whole chicken
* 2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
Method
Rehydrate the chiles de arbol:
Bring a small saucepan or kettle with about 2
cups of water to a boil over high heat. Place the dried chiles in a small
heatproof bowl and carefully add enough boiling water to cover them—I used
about 1 cup of water. Set the bowl aside for 30 minutes to allow the chiles to
rehydrate.
Roast and peel the peppers:
If you have a gas stove, set a burner to high
heat. Use a pair of tongs to place a bell pepper directly on the flame. You can
use two burners, one for each pepper.
If you have the grill already on (you won’t need
it quite yet to cook the chicken since it needs to marinate), set the peppers
on the grill over high heat.
For both methods, turn them as the skin blackens
until fully charred all around. Transfer the charred peppers into a medium bowl
and cover the bowl with a large plate to seal in the steam and loosen the
skin.
Once cool enough to handle, use your hands to
peel off the blackened skin and remove the seeds. Roughly chop the peppers and
transfer them into a food processor.
Toast and grind the seeds:
In a small skillet set over medium heat, add the
caraway and cumin seeds. Toast, stirring frequently, until they turn a light
golden brown and are fragrant, about 2 minutes. Grind the toasted seeds in a
spice grinder, blender, or with a mortar and pestle. Then, transfer them into
the food processor. They don’t have to be finely ground. It’s okay if it’s a
little coarse.
Make the harissa paste:
Drain the rehydrated chiles, remove and discard
the stems, and add the chiles into the food processor along with the garlic,
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil, smoked paprika, tomato paste, red wine
vinegar, and 2 teaspoons salt. You can discard the chile soaking liquid. Blitz
the mixture until smooth like a purée. You’ll have about 1 cup of harissa paste.
Don’t have a food processor? Finely chop the
chiles, peppers, and garlic on a cutting board with a sharp chef’s knife and
stir with the remaining ingredients for a slightly coarser harissa.
Spoon about a third of the harissa into a little
serving bowl, cover, and refrigerate until you are ready to eat. You will use
the remaining harissa to marinate the chicken. Harissa keeps in the fridge,
covered, for a good week.
Chicken spachkok:
Place the
chicken breast side up on the cutting board. Use a sharp chef's knife to cut
some deep oblique lines, about 2 inches wide, through the legs and breasts to
allow the mush to soak deeper into the meat. You'll be cutting through the skin
and meat down to the bone.
Turn the
side of the bird's chest down and use large kitchen scissors to cut each side
of the spine. You will cut the rib bones, not the spine itself. Remove and
discard the spine, or maybe save it for inventory.
Use your
hands to slightly open the bird, then turn the breast side up again. Use your
palm and your body weight to press it firmly over the breastbone. The goal is
to flatten the bird so that it matures in one layer.
Marinate the chicken:
Spoon the harissa reserved to marinate the
chicken onto the bird. Use your hands to rub it all over and into the slashes
and crevices for maximum flavor. Set the chicken breast side up on a sheet pan,
or large platter if a sheet pan will not fit into your fridge. Slide it into
the fridge to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours, but I recommend 24 hours.
Fire up the grill for indirect grilling:
For a charcoal grill: Light
the coals on fire and place them in the grill along two sides, opposite each
other. The chicken will cook in the center of the grill between the fire, not
over it, with even heat coming from two sides. Then, add a couple lumps of wood
chunks—any kind, like oak, apple, cherry, or hickory—on top of the fire.
For a gas grill: If you
have three burners, light two of them set to medium heat, one at each end. The
chicken will cook in the center over the burner that’s off. For a two-burner
grill, light just one set to medium heat. The chicken will cook over the burner
that’s off. Rest a couple lumps of wood chunks directly on the lit burners so
that it catches on fire and smolders as the chicken cooks.
Smoke the chicken:
Take the marinated chicken out of the fridge. No
need to wait to get it to room temperature. Place it breast side up on the
grill. There shouldn’t be any lit coals or burners turned on right beneath it.
The smoke from the wood chunks will come, no need to wait for it before placing
the chicken on the grill.
Shut the lid to trap in smoke and cook for about
1 1/2 hours. Check it once or twice, using tongs to rotate it 180 degrees to
make sure it cooks evenly—the side closest to the fire will cook faster—but keep
it breast side up.
Meanwhile, parboil the carrots:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high
heat with 1 tablespoon salt. Once boiling, add the carrots and cook for 5
minutes. Drain well into a colander set in the sink. Transfer the carrots into
a medium bowl and drizzle in the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, the
remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Set it aside.
Turn the chicken over:
After 1 1/2
hours, check the internal temperature of the chicken with a thermometer. It should
be about 160 F Fahrenheit when looking in a few places. Use tweezers to turn
the breast side down and continue cooking until the internal temperature
reaches at least 165 dollars Fahrenheit.
Check the
chicken in a few places, say once on each leg and once on each breast. Poke the
probe deep into the meat but avoid touching the bone or you will get a wrong
reading. Also, be sure not to probe all the way through the other side and
out—your barbecue bars will read.
Towards the
end of cooking, you can move it a little closer to the fire so that it finishes
slicing on a higher fire but you may not need to-after all, the chicken baked
in the oven turns out to be beautifully crispy without seeing any flames.
Assemble and serve:
Transfer the carrots onto a large serving
platter. Place the chicken on top, sprinkle it with cilantro, and serve with
the reserved harissa.
When the
cooking is finished, move the chicken away from the fire to keep warm while the
carrots are cooking. Use tongs to place the carrots perpendicular to the grill
bars directly over the fire and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring regularly,
until they are slightly charred and soft all the way through.