Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Skillet Roasted Chicken with Rosemary, Garlic, Maple Balsamic Glaze

So that is really the title in the recipe book! I found it in a Cast Iron Skillet recipe book. I did cook it in the oven in our cast iron skillet, but I'm sure it would work in other oven-proof pans too.

2 tbsp. fresh rosemary (about 5 sprigs) plus 5 sprigs
2 cloves garlic
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 whole chicken, (3-4 lbs)
2 lbs. potatoes, scrubbed and halved or quartered.
Salt and Pepper

- Place rack in the centre of the oven. Preheat to 400 F
- Using a mortar and pestle crush together the 2 tbsp. of rosemary, garlic and lemon zest until they form a paste. Place paste in a bowl and whisk in vinegar, oil, syrup, and lemon juice (or put in blender)
- Rinse chicken and pat dry. Rub with salt and pepper. Loosen skin and rub rosemary mixture under skin. Halve the lemon you used for zesting and place in cavity along with the 5 sprigs of rosemary.
- Place potatoes in a 10"-12" skillet. Season with salt and pepper then place chicken on top. Roast in oven for 55-65 min. for a 4 lb. bird (add 8 min for each additional lb.)
- After 20 minutes baste the chicken. Repeat 20 minutes later. Roast until thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh reads 170 F - 175 F and juices run clear.
- Let chicken rest 5 min. before serving.

~*~

This was REALLY good. I enjoyed it a lot. TR said it tasted like a fancy meal at a restaurant. I did make a couple of changes and that is I used 1/2 of a chicken from a farm. It took probably 1.5 hours to cook. I think next time I would either cut the potatoes a lot smaller or put them on the sides of the chicken instead of under. The potatoes that were under cooked a lot slower and we ended up putting them all to the side about half-way through. I used dried rosemary as I didn't have fresh, but grinding it in the mortar worked really well. Since I used a half of a chicken I didn't have a cavity and just omitted putting lemon halves and sprigs of rosemary in the chicken.

2 comments:

  1. oh. my. goodness. this sounds fabulous!!! I will be trying this for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so glad you posted this recipe! I forgot to bring up that Cast Iron Skillet recipe book for the Christmas holidays. I am making this to wow my boyfriend's parents and it sooo delicious. I am going to add carrots, mushrooms, and onions with the potatoes. I make a pan sauce/gravy from the drippings while I let the chicken rest. Add white wine, chicken broth/wine, butter, gravy flour or a light sprinkle of regular flour to thicken. Buy a good quality chicken. It will be more tender and less greasy.

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear from you!