I'm going to have a small-scale Thanksgiving dinner before Halloween! Intended for turkey, this recipe was executed for a party of one; thus, a chicken. The chicken weighed approximately half of what the turkey was supposed to weigh; to compensate I cut all of the other ingredients in half. Certainly, I had doubts about how well that would work out since I didn't consider surface area, but whatever. It'll go well with the mac and cheese, leftover yam mash, and cornbread. There is a dressing recipe that goes with the bird, but I saved that part for later.
Honey-Roasted Chicken
adapted from Cooking Club
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1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 (5-6-lb.) chicken, patted dry
1/4 c butter
1/4 c honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Heat oven to 375ºF. Place roasting rack in shallow roasting pan; coat rack and pan with cooking spray.
Combine 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon salt and black pepper in small cup.
Rub spice mixture over chicken and into cavity. Tuck wing tips behind chicken; place breast-side up on rack.
I used my quarter-sheet pan which doesn't have a rack. I did spritz the pan with oil from the Misto before putting the chicken on it. The recipe didn't give indication that the bird should be trussed; I did a quick-and-easy tie-the-legs-together.
Bake 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt 1/2 cup butter in small saucepan over medium heat.
Remove from heat; whisk in honey and mustard.
Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Generously baste chicken with honey mixture.
Bake an additional 30-45 minutes or until internal temperature of the breast reaches 160ºF., basting every 30 minutes and covering loosely with foil if browning too quickly. Remove chicken, cover loosely with foil; let stand 20 minutes before carving.
Chicken right out of the oven, chilled 18 hours and then carved into pieces. Some pieces for now, some for later.
When my chicken was done roasting, it was about midnight-thirty. I let it cool to room temperature and then chilled it in the fridge until I was ready to eat. I know, weird, right? Still, the chicken turned out marvelously. Even after reheating a drumstick and two wings with sides on a plate in the oven (at 350°F for about 20 minutes), the chicken was tender and juicy. The skin wasn't perfectly crispy and I doubt it would've been even if I carved it 20 minutes after coming out of the oven. The honey is thick and weighs heavily on the skin. That equates to tasty, yes; crispy, no.
Essentially a simple recipe to execute and it looked really pretty after it was finished. I'm certain a turkey done this way would get lots of ooh's and aah's and mmm's!. And plus it's done with a bunch of stuff I (we?) normally have in the kitchen anyway, so no shopping for elusive mushrooms, pork pieces or herbs/spices.
Cost:
- chicken: $11.38
- butter: $0.20
- honey: $0.48
- Dijon mustard: $0.15
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