Peppery Baked Chicken

Peppery Baked Chicken – because why should the people with the grills get to have all the fun?

You will not believe how easy this recipe is.

The secret to the big time flavor is the spicy rub that goes on the chicken. Then it bakes in the oven while you go on about your life and business.

Couldn’t be easier or tastier.

Here’s what you need:

(If I can figure out how to make a photo collage, there will be hilarious pictures of Henry eyeing that chicken coming soon.)

Chicken, Ground Allspice, Ground Cloves, Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Garlic, Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper.

Click here for a Peppery Baked Chicken Shopping List

This is another recipe from the Heart of the Artichoke – the same cookbook that brought Scalloped Corn into my life. The recipes were on adjoining pages so it didn’t take me long to figure out that they were meant to be together.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

The original recipe used chicken wings which, I’m sorry people of Buffalo, I just can’t deal with. I guess I feel the same way about wings as my husband does about corn on the cob…too much work, not enough units of pleasure.

But chicken legs! Those I can do. Thighs too.

You’ll need 4-5 pounds of chicken parts. (I have 10 legs and 4 thighs. ) Some skinned, some not…do whatever you like with the skin. Put the chicken in a big bowl and season it with salt & pepper.

To make the spice rub, smash and finely chop 4 cloves of garlic.

Once you have it chopped, add about ½ teaspoon of salt to the garlic on your cutting board and use the flat side of your knife to mash the garlic and salt together into a paste.

Carefully press the knife down with your fingers as you press it back and forth over the garlic.

Press one direction, scoop the garlic back up into a little pile, then press the other direction.

After about 15-20 passes over the garlic, you should have a nice juicy pile of garlic paste. This is a great trick anytime you want the garlic to disappear a bit in things like salad dressings, butter, marinades, etc.

Place your garlic paste in a small bowl then add 2 teaspoons of ground allspice, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper,

¼ teaspoon ground cloves,

and 1 Tablespoon of sweet paprika.

The allspice and cloves give this a nice nutty flavor while you get a little kick from the cayenne and paprika.

A tiny bit of smoked paprika wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

Add 3 Tablespoons of olive oil…

and stir until thoroughly combined.

Put the spice blend on your chicken pieces and generously massage it in so that is coats all sides of the meat.

Place the chicken pieces on foil lined baking sheets being sure that you have a bit of space between each piece.

I used 2 trays so that my chicken wouldn’t be overly crowded.

Bake at 375 for 1 hour until nicely browned and slightly crisp.

If you are using 2 baking sheets, be sure to swap their places in the oven about halfway through the cooking time so everything cooks evenly.

No need to turn the chicken pieces…you can see that I started to but the coating came off so I stopped. Can’t loose the spicy coating.

These little beauties can be served hot or cold.

They have flavor galore but aren’t overly, burn your face off spicy.

And they go great with Scalloped Corn!

Here’s the recipe:  Adapted from David Tanis –Heart of the Artichoke

Peppery Baked Chicken