Chicken Diavolo

Chicken Diavolo

Kim SeversonYield 3 to 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 large jalapeño chiles
• 2 serrano chiles
• ¾ cup olive oil, plus more for sautéing
• 2 tablespoons hot paprika (or equal parts cayenne and sweet paprika)
• Ground black pepper
• 2 ½ lemons
• Salt
• 1 small chicken, quartered and backbone removed

Preparation

• Step 1

  Make the chile oil: Chop jalapeño and serrano chiles and put them in a small saucepan with 3/4 cup olive oil. Add hot paprika and grind in a fair amount of black pepper. Steep over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Let sit overnight, or all day.
• Step 2

  Strain chile oil into a large bowl. Slice 2 lemons and add them to the bowl. Season with salt. Coat chicken with the oil, put in a zip-top bag and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to a day.
• Step 3

  Heat oven to 500. Heat a cast-iron skillet until it’s quite hot (about 5 minutes). Meanwhile, remove the chicken from the chile oil and pat it dry. Sprinkle it with salt and shower it with pepper; you need a lot. Slick the bottom of the pan with olive oil and put the chicken, skin-side down, in the hot skillet. Cook until the skin is crisp and golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Turn the chicken skin-side up.
• Step 4

  Put the skillet in the oven and roast about 20 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 170 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh. Sprinkle with juice from half a lemon, shower with more pepper and allow to rest 10 minutes before serving.