February 13, 2010

Orange & Apricot Roast Chicken



Happy Birthday to Mom!
We weren't going to let Mom cook or do dishes for her own birthday dinner! Instead, we filled the house with fruity aromas, scrubbed a few pots and pans, and tried to figure out whether the meat thermometer was lying to us (pretty sure it was). We let her drink wine.

The chicken recipe comes out of a thin little book called "Easy Chicken Dishes". Canadian Living published 8 of these paperback cookbooks, filled with recipes from the Canadian Living test kitchen. Great color photographs illustrate meals that are made from relatively standard ingredients - you can flip through for ideas and not have to rule things out because you're lacking exotic ingredients. And the size of these books is nice! They aren't bulky at all.

Orange & Apricot Roast Chicken
1 chicken (about 3 pounds)
Salt and pepper
2 oranges (unpeeled, sliced)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
12 dried apricots
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar --> we used a splash of white vinegar
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 cup cold water
  • Sprinkle inside of chicken with salt and pepper. Place half of the orange slices inside. Truss chicken.... we didn't know what "trussing" was - but a Google search led us to this helpful site: instructables. As far as we could tell, our chicken came kind of trussed (tied up to make it more compact). After stuffing the oranges in, we just tied the legs of the chicken tightly together.
  • In a small roasting pan, melt butter and oil. Put chicken in pan. Roast uncovered, breast side up, in 375 F oven for 45 minutes.
  • In small pot, bring orange juice to a boil. This kick-starts the good smells wafting through the house! Remove pot from heat. Add apricots. Let them soak for 20 minutes, then remove and set aside.
  • To orange juice left in pot, add sugar, vinegar, orange rind, and mustard. Boil for 3 - 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
  • Pour half the juice mixture over the chicken. Arrange apricots around the chicken. Continue to roast chicken for another 10 minutes. Brush with remaining juice mixture. Roast for another 10 - 15 minute or until meat thermometer reads 185 F (85 C).
  • Transfer chicken from roasting pan to a platter.
  • The cornstarch and water is to make a gravy... which we completely forgot about. Honestly, the chicken was super-moist and really didn't need a gravy. But if you want to try it out, start by removing the fat from the pan drippings. Blend cornstarch and water; stir into pan drippings. Cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Garnish chicken with the remaining orange slices. Serve with Glazed Dijon Carrots (recipe below).
Orange slices make the chicken very moist!
The flavor (and fruit juices) seep through.
It might be nice to cut up a few of the apricots,
just to make them easier to eat.
Success!
The Dijon flavor in these carrots is unexpected -
a nice spin onclassic orange carrots.

Glazed Dijon Carrots

The recipe for this side dish came from our favorite go-to website: AllRecipes. The search function on that side is so convenient! It's nice to be able to not only search by ingredient, but also search by what kind of dish you want (soup? side dish? Mexican?).

4 large carrots (or 1 package of baby carrots)
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
  • In a large pot, bring carrots and water to a boil. Cover, and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes or until tender. You don't want them to be mushy!
  • Drain carrots and place in serving dish.
  • In a small pot, melt butter. Add brown sugar, mustard, ginger, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved.
  • Pour sauce over carrots and toss to coat.

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