Recipe From Gourmet Today: More than 1,000 all new recipes for the contemporary kitchen, edited by Ruth Reichl

Here's an easy way to spice things up.

Serves 4
Active time: 10 minutes
Start to finish: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons salt (we recommending cutting this down to ½ teaspoon)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 chicken breast halves with skin and bones or 4 whole chicken legs, thighs and drumsticks separated if desired, rinsed and patted dry
• ½ cup water

Directions

1. Put rack in middle of oven and preheat to 450°F.

2. Stir together spices, salt and 1 tablespoon oil. Rub evenly all over chicken.

3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch ovenproof heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Brown chicken, turning once, 6 to 8 minutes.

4. Turn chicken skin side up, transfer skillet to oven, and roast until just cooked through, 16 to 18 minutes for breasts, about 25 minutes for legs. Transfer to platter.

5. Add water to pan and deglaze by boiling over high heat, scraping up brown bits for 1 minute. Transfer sauce to a bowl and skim off fat.

6. Serve chicken with sauce on the side.