Serves 4
Prepare the chicken
- 1happy chicken (free range or something)
- 1bag of ice cubes
- Some rope
- Kitchen paper
This explanation of the temperatures and the ice sounds very plausible to me and I really wanted to do it in this way but I have no freezer so no ice cubes. But… I’m not that easily discouraged! The back of my fridge is freezing (if I keep my fresh herbs to far back in the fridge they freeze to the shelf) so I used that. I washed the chicken inside and out and pat it dry. I covered its legs with kitchen towel and placed it in a plastic back. Here comes the hard part, I had to secure the hen with it breast to the back of the fridge without pressing the legs against it as well. So I made a barricade with beer bottles to keep the bird in place and went on to the next step of the preparation. (If you have ice cubes I suggest you use those)
Finishing the Bird
- 1big red onion
- 5garlic cloves
- 2teaspoons dried sage and a small bunch of fresh sage
- 2teaspoons dried thyme and a small bunch of fresh thyme
- 2tablespoons butter
- 1/2bunch bottle white wine (not the vinegar type but not an overly sweet one either, there is a lot in between)
- 250gram Muscat grapes
- 250gram cherry tomatoes
- 1teaspoon honey
- Pepper and salt
Preheat the oven to 220 C. There is not so much to it actually, it is a really simple recipe. Cut the onion in 4 parts and cut one of the parts small. Take the paper of the garlic cloves and crush one with a bit of salt and your knife.
Wash the grapes and the cherry tomatoes. When the chicken is ready, take it out of the fridge and rub it with butter. Season with pepper and salt, fill the inside with the three onion part, the whole garlic cloves, the fresh thyme and sage and tie the legs together. Sprinkle the outside with a teaspoon of dried thyme and dried sage. Bind the hens legs together, butter the baking tray and place the chicken on it.
Bake the bird for 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven and rub it again with butter and garlic. Poor half of the white wine in the tray and add half of the grapes and half of the tomatoes. Press the grapes a bit. Put the cut onion in the wine.
Bake it for another 55 minutes (or until the breast and legs have the right temperature). Take the chicken out of the oven and place it on a serving dish. Arrange the grapes and tomatoes around the chicken. Cover it with aluminum foil. Poor the juices from the tray into a skillet and add more wine, also add the other half of the tomatoes and grapes. Add a teaspoon of honey, some dried sage and dried thyme and let the sauce reduce. Poor this sauce over the chicken and serve it like that.
By Janneke Verheij
Author Notes: How to make a roast chicken with delicious juicy legs and soft breast meat? The problem with roast chicken is that the breast is done when the meat is (…more)—Janneke Verheij
***Grabbed from: http://food52.com/recipes/3441-delicious-roast-chicken-with-muscat-grapes-and-white-wine