Whole Chicken

Deviled is a southern term for a dish that is highly seasoned. To make life easier, have the butcher cut up the chicken, and use a small chicken — around three pounds — so that it will cook through quickly. If you're cutting it yourself, start by going along both sides of the backbone with kitchen shears or a large knife. Once the backbone has been removed, cut the chicken into eight pieces (two breasts, wings, legs and thighs); include the top third of each breast with the wings for a more generous serving. The chicken needs to marinate for at least a day, so plan accordingly. See how to joint a chicken.

Remove the skin and fat from a whole cut-up chicken to make this Middle Eastern dish.

Serve a dry Riesling to complement the subtle ginger flavor of the roasted chicken.

Chicharrones are cracklings — the flavorful solids that are left over from making lard; the resemblance these little morsels of chicken bear to them accounts for the name "chicken cracklings." Chicharrones de pollo is a typically South American dish, variations of which can be found all over that continent and up into the Central American peninsula. The chicken is chpped up Chinese-style — bones, skin and all — into small pieces. Then it is usually marinated, rolled in wheat or corn flour, and deep fried — although sometimes it is not marinated, and sometimes it is fried without any breading at all.

You can easily recreate this recipe with a wonderful free-range chicken. As for the candied chestnuts, I recommend using freshly cooked, shelled chestnuts which are still quite sweet!

This was a specialty of Marie's mother, Sylvia. Because the potatoes were always crowded around the edges of the pan and became crusty during baking, everyone in her family fought for those potatoes "by the wall."

With just two ingredients, this has to be one of the simplest-not to mention tastiest-recipes ever devised.

Chef Lisa Ahier likes the flavor of Key limes or Mexican limes, which she can buy locally and year-round, for the marinade below. But even if you use regular lime juice, you'll love this chicken, which is as delicious at room temperature as it is hot. In fact, Gourmet's food editors couldn't get enough of it.

Avgolemono, a classic Greek sauce flavored with lemon juice and thickened with eggs, adds richness to the tender stewed chicken in this outstanding main course. Pour a chilled Chardonnay, and offer purchased baklava for dessert. See how to joint a chicken.

At the beach in Malta, the locals eat fried rabbit, rather than burgers, with fries. I've adapted the recipe by using chicken and sweetening the gravy with a touch of honey.

In the eighties, the popularity of this homestyle dish caused take-out rotisserie chicken shops to spring up across the country.

"When I moved to Seattle last year, I found myself really missing my Studio City, California, neighborhood," writes Tim Westmoreland of Seattle, Washington. "There were so many great places to eat there, especially Pinot Bistro. I am craving its roasted chicken with caramelized onions. Would you see if chef Miki Zivkovic would send me an order? If not, the recipe will do just fine." At the restaurant, the chicken is accompanied by shoestring fries sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley and the chef's own garlic-salt mixture.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr Mashed potatoes are the ideal accompaniment to this dish.

Tandoori Murghi Of all the food cooked in a _tandoor,_the most popular and the best-tasting is chicken. The distinctive flavor, texture, and color of this dish are achieved by a particular yogurt marinade, by the use of tenderizers, a special tandoori coloring, and finally, by being cooked in the Indian clay oven. The recipe given here is designed for the conventional oven and charcoal grill. (Household-model tandoors are not yet commercially available in the United States.) The results are very much to my satisfaction.

(Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Olives)