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Slashing chicken is an easy way to get big flavor—perfect with Rach's twice-baked cheesy butternut squash.
"I love this quick-infusion of flavor method shared by Christopher Kimball in his Milk Street book Cookish," Rach says. "It really is a game changer for any combo of big flavors to deliver winner chicken dinners."
Ingredients
- ½ cup prepared mustard, brown or yellow ballpark-style
- 2 tablespoon cayenne pepper sauce (Rach's go-to is Frank's RedHot)
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
- 1 bone-in, skin-on chicken, quartered into 2 breasts and 2 whole legs
- Salt and pepper
- 2 teaspoons granulated onion
- Chopped celery tops, parsley, and scallions , to serve (optional)
- Celery and carrot sticks, to serve (optional)
- 2½ to 3 pounds butternut squash
- Non-aerosol oil spray
- Salt, pepper, grated nutmeg and smoked sweet paprika
- ½ cup sour cream (1 tablespoon per serving of squash)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped chives, plus more to serve
- 2 cups shredded sharp or mild orange cheddar
Yield
Preparation
For the chicken, preheat oven to 450˚F.
Combine mustard, hot sauce, Worcestershire and garlic and slash meat 1 inch apart on thighs and legs and across breasts. Season chicken with salt, pepper and granulated onion. Rub the paste into and evenly over chicken and roast on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 25 minutes or so to 170˚F to 175˚F. Top with chopped celery tops, parsley and scallions. Serve with celery and carrot sticks.
For the squash, lower the oven to 425˚F. Cut and seed squash and cut into 4 portions. Spray with oil and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and sweet smoked paprika, then roast cut-side down to tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool and scoop out flesh, keeping shell and thin layer of flesh intact. Combine the flesh with sour cream, chives and cheese, reserving about ¼ of the cheese to top. Mash and mix together to combine. Preheat broiler. Stuff the flesh back into squash shells and top with remaining cheese, then brown under broiler and top with chives.
