Recipe - Cinnamon-Roasted Chicken With Rustic Pan Sauce

1 3pound whole chicken
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
One half teaspoon Chili powder
One half teaspoon Salt
One fourth teaspoon Freshcracked black pepper
1 Corn tortilla; cut in
quarters
2 Plum tomatoes; quartered
lengthwise
One fourth White onion; roughchopped
4 Cloves garlic
2 ounce Wild mushrooms; stemmed and
chopped
2 Pasilla chilies; stemmed and
seeded
One fourth cup Pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoon Olive oil; (2 to 3)
2 cup Chicken stock or water
2 teaspoon Brown sugar

While making the sauce, do not allow the temperature of the chicken to drop
below 120F; if you work along smoothly, your chicken will stay hot until
you cut it to return it to the sauce. Chef Del Grande suggests serving this
with roasted potatoes, creamy mashed potatoes, polenta, or white grits.

Preheat the oven to 350F. With a sharp, heavy knife, split the chicken down
the back. Open the chicken, place the bone side down, and press firmly to
flatten. To secure the legs in place, make two slits in the skin on each
side of the bird near the tail, and tuck the end of the legs through the
holes.

Combine the cinnamon, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Brush the chicken
with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and rub the chicken with the spice mixture.
In an ovenproof skillet large enough to hold the chicken, evenly spread
the tortilla pieces, tomatoes, onion, garlic, wild mushrooms, pasilla
chilis, and pumpkin seeds. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the
vegetables. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Roast for 1 hour.
The juices of the chicken will run clear.

Remove the chicken from the pan. Brush with some of the pan juices and keep
warm. Add the chicken stock to the bottom of the pan and stir up the
ingredients and browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Transfer the
ingredients and juice to a blender. Puree for 30 seconds, until smooth.
Return to the pan and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low
and simmer 15 30 minutes. If the sauce becomes too thick, thin with more
stock or water.

Meanwhile, on a cutting board, cut the chicken into 8 pieces (2 legs, 2
thighs, and split each breast into 2 pieces). Add the chicken back to the
sauce to be gently warmed, and serve.
Posted to recipeludigest by "Diane Geary" diane@keyway.net on Feb 16,
1998