It's Time to Move Past Rotisserie Chicken

There are 3 million chicken recipes on the internet. We're here to show you the good ones. Win, win.

Today: A roast chicken dinner that begs, borrows, and steals its way into your weekly dinnertime rotation.

Sometimes the best dishes have a long list of influencers, like the biscuit doughnut or baklava crêpes—each inspired by a combination of breakfast and dessert powerhouses. This chicken, like other famous mash-ups, is not so much a hodgepodge of misfit pieces, but rather a culinary connect-the-dots. Here, the dots are ingredients, the line is the method, and the outcome is a chicken dinner worthy of a Sunday night masterpiece (but simple enough for a weeknight go-to). It pulls together elements from Dana Jacobi's Indonesian Beggar's Chicken and a flavor-infusing, skin-crisping technique from MonkeyMom. When it comes to chicken dinners that think outside the roasting pan, this one is a real stand up, er, stand out dinner:

Beg, Borrow, and Steal Roast Chicken with Cilantro-Tamarind Sauce

Serves 4 to 6

1 handful cilantro, including stems
3 to 4 garlic cloves, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, divided
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered, divided
1 teaspoon anchovy paste (or equivalent quantity of mashed filets)
2 limes, divided
One 1-inch cube solid tamarind pulp
One 4-pound chicken (slightly chilled)
Salt, to taste
1/4 cup rice wine
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photo by James Ransom

Is there an undiscovered Food52 chicken recipe you love? Send us a paragraph or two at [email protected] about why you love it, and it could be next week's Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.