I found this recipe in Ina Garten’s book Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? It’s called Jeffrey’s Roast Chicken. In her cookbook Ina tells the story that it’s also call engagement chicken because when a girlfriend makes this dish for her boyfriend, she ends up engaged. What better choice for a Valentine’s Day dinner? I’ve made it several times lately and it’s easy, the whole house smelled delicious and we all loved it.
It begins with a roasting chicken and placing a whole head of garlic and 1/2 of a lemon inside the bird. After cooking you make a wonderful gravy with the onions, lemons and leftover juices. Yum! I served it with mashed potatoes and a garden salad. Luckily we have leftovers, because I’m not quite finished enjoying it.
Here’s the recipe:
1 (4-5-pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons
1 whole head of garlic, cut in half crosswise
good olive oil
2 Spanish onions,, peeled and thickly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
In these pictures I was roasting 2 chickens so I’d have enough for my book group, family and leftovers. It doesn’t take much more effort but left me with lots more chicken. Well worth it!
Remove and discard the chicken giblets. Pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Cut the lemons in quarters and place 2 quarters in the cavity along with the garlic. Brush the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the chicken in a small (11 X 14-inch) roasting pan. (If the pan is too large, the onions will burn.)
Place the reserved lemons and the sliced onions in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Pour the mixture around the chicken.
Roast the chicken for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and a thigh. Remove the chicken to a platter, leaving the lemons and onions in the pan. Cover the chicken with foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the sauce.
Place the pan on top of the stove over medium–high heat. Add the wine and stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits. Add the stock and sprinkle on the flour, stirring constantly for a minute, until the sauce thickens. Add any juices that collect on the platter under the chicken and taste for seasoning. Carve the chicken onto the platter and spoon the onions and sauce over it. If the lemons are tender enough to eat, serve them, too, sprinkle with salt and serve.
Enjoy
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