Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Sunday Dinner: {Rustic Roasted Chicken 'n Veggies}

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I titled this post "Sunday Dinner," because this is one of those recipes that are rich, and hearty, and beautiful enough to be the centerpiece of your Sunday table.  I'm not sure about you, but even though I like to make a nice meal every night of the week, I want Sunday dinner to be extra special.  I want to break out the good china (well, if I had any...unfortunately, I got married at 20, an age where I found the idea of "nice china" to be ridiculous.  Consequently, I have none!),  and set the the table, serving food in beautiful dishes right there in the center of my table, rather than ladling food at the stove and carrying it over.  I want to make a meal that looks like it could be on the cover of a magazine, and that is even more delicious, and comforting than it looks.  This recipe fits the bill in all of those categories.  The beautiful colors of all the vegetables, and the glaze on the chicken paint a homey, gorgeous picture worthy of any magazine cover.  And, unlike many of those cover recipes, this one is easy peasy to whip up.

Don't let the title of this post box you in though, you don't have to reserve this deliciousness for Sunday night.  You can make it early in the week to cure that pesky case of the Mondays, or mid-week to help you through hump day, or Friday night, for a date with your sweetheart (on a boat, in a train...).  This is a great recipe for any night of the week.  The prep time is probably about 20-30 minutes, between chopping the vegetables, making the glaze, and the broth, and then an hour of cooking time.  So, any night you have an hour and a half to devote to dinner is a worthwhile night for this recipe!

I hope all of you facebook fans took my preparatory advice, and purchased the ingredients listed during your weekly grocery run.  Because once you see the photos of this amazing chicken, you're going to want to make it right now.  Even though it's only Tuesday!  Be sure to follow the link at the bottom of this post to the original recipe, as well, because the photos on that site are MUCH more beautiful and inviting than mine!  My kitchen suffers from TERRIBLE lighting, and my photography suffers from my lack of time to practice and learn.  Kay's suffers from no such thing.  Her photography is as great as her food!

A few notes about this recipe, first, the original recipe is slightly different than the one I've listed.  I omitted several ingredients from the original that I didn't have, and added a couple that I love.  For example, the original recipe called for 1/2 cup of chicken broth, and 1/2 cup of white wine.  I didn't have any white wine on hand, and in Utah, that means driving 20 minutes to the liquor store, which isn't open on Sundays anyway.  So, I used all chicken broth, and the result was still amazingly delicious.  Next time I make it, I'll try it with the white wine, and then post an update to let you know the difference.  Also, the recipe called for lots of fresh sage, which I couldn't find anywhere.  Seriously, I checked 4 grocery stores for it, and came up empty handed.  I think I added a little bit of dried sage to the glaze to make up for it, but I'm not 100% sure.  Either way, sage is a really mild flavor, and you're not going to miss it if you don't have it.  I also chose to use 2 bell peppers, because I really wanted the extra punch of color from the red and the yellow peppers in there.  I have to admit, I was nervous that the bell peppers would overrun the other flavors in this recipe, especially because I don't love bell peppers.  But, they really just provided a nice background, and deeper flavor than carrots and potatoes alone.  I really loved it.  I also chose to add rosemary to the glaze mixture because it is absolutely my favorite herb.  I love the way thyme and rosemary taste together.

Take your vegetables, and adjust the measurements based on your own tastes.  For example, I used less carrots, and more potatoes, because I really LOVE potatoes.  A lot.  I also used a lot more garlic than the original recipe calls for because The Husband and I are garlic fiends.

Really, I just can't impress upon you enough that you MUST make this chicken.  It is THAT GOOD. Notice there's an " 'n " in there.  Based on past recipes, you KNOW that means it's good.


Hallelujahs:Amazingly delicious, beautiful, vibrant, just plain PERFECT.
Hellfires:Chopping the veggies does take a few minutes, but it's totally worth it!


{Rustic Roasted Chicken 'n Veggies}

Ingredients:
Cut-Up Fryer Chicken
1-3 lbs of small potatoes
Carrots
4 big shallots
5-8 garlic cloves
1-2 bell peppers
½ lb bacon
1 cup chicken broth (or ½ cup chicken broth and ½ cup wine)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Lawry’s seasoned salt
1 tsp Paprika
¼- ½  tsp dried thyme
¼- ½ tsp dried rosemary
ground pepper

-Begin by chopping your vegetables.  I used red potatoes this time, but whatever you have on hand will work for this.  Red and Yellow are my favorites for roasting, though, because they hold up better to long cooking times, and don’t waste away to nothing.
Photobucket-If you can’t find Shallots anywhere, just chop an onion into large wedges.  It will work the same way!
-Place your chopped vegetables in the bottom of your roasting pan.  In my case, I had to use two 13 x 9” pans, because my large roaster is destroyed and rusted.  Time for a visit to Williams-Sonoma!
-Place your chicken on top of your vegetables, and make your glaze.
-In a small bowl, mix olive oil, seasoned salt, paprika, thyme, rosemary, and pepper.  It should be a deep red color in the bowl.  If you have any other favorite spices, feel free to add them here.  I think I may have added a tiny bit of dried sage when I made this, but I can’t be sure. 
Photobucket-Place your chicken on top of your vegetables in the roasting pan.
-Use a basting brush (or a spoon, or even your fingers if you don’t have one!), and paint the chicken pieces with the glaze.  It will turn them this beautiful bright orange color.
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-Place your garlic cloves (still in the skins) all around the pan. Snuggle 'em there with all the other veggies. When everything's done cooking, you can squeeze them out of the skins, and spread them over the chicken, for an amazing roasted garlic flavor!-Now, chop up your bacon into small pieces.  Roughly the same size, or smaller as the pieces for the green beans ‘n bacon recipe.
-Fry up your bacon until you get a nice crisp to it, and some brown deliciousness in the bottom of the pan.
-Deglaze your bacon pan (WITHOUT throwing out the grease!) with the chicken broth, or a mixture of chicken broth and white wine.
-Allow this broth/wine/bacon mixture to simmer for about 5 minutes, uncovered, reducing it down and getting a deep color out of it.
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-Pour the bacon/broth mixture around your roasting pan.  Be sure to pour over the vegetables, not the chicken, or you’ll wash off all of that beautiful orange glaze.
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Photobucket-Cover your pans with tin-foil, tenting it to prevent the skin of the chicken from touching the foil.  If you miss this step, the skin will get stuck to the tin foil, and all that goodness will rip right off!
-Bake for about 30 minutes, at 400*.
-After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven, and baste the chicken and veggies with the juice in the bottom of the pan.  
Photobucket-Replace tin foil, and bake for another 15 minutes.
-Remove from the oven, and baste again.
-This time, place the chicken back in the oven UNCOVERED for 15 minutes, so that the skin on your chicken will get a little crispy.
Photobucket-Remove from the oven, and ENJOY!

Original Recipe can be found at: Kayotic Kitchen

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