It’s New Year’s Eve and I’m spending a very mellow evening at home with my grandchildren Jasmine and Aiden while their mom is working. We went for a lovely walk in the sunshine to the market to buy ingredients for tonight’s dinner and had a great time doing so. Jasmine was excited to see that her favorite pink tree was once again in bloom and that sent her skipping with happiness. We chatted on the way to the market about what we wanted for dinner and finally decided on chicken.
I had thought to make a crown roast of pork for dinner and have a fancy sit down meal with my daughter-in-law and the kids when she got out of work, but nixed that idea right away. A 2-year old and a 4-year old don’t want a crown roast of pork. Not these two anyway.
I still wanted to have a nice meal but decided to make it just a bit more kid friendly. J&A love chicken, especially my roast chicken stuffed with oranges and sage and coated in a pomegranate glaze, which is just about as fancy as they like it without being too grown up. This, I know they’ll eat up. I’m going to roast carrots along with the chicken and do my famous (in this family) Fragrant Rosemary and Lemon Roasted Potatoes along with a simple green salad.
Orange Stuffed Chicken with Pomegranate Glaze & Citrus Gravy
1 whole chicken, washed and trimmed
2 cloves of garlic, whole
3 navel oranges
a sprig of fresh thyme
about six leaves of fresh sage
1 bunch of carrots
salt and pepper to taste
a few bits of butter
1/8 c. olive oil
Wash and trim any excess fat off the chicken. Pat it dry and place breast side up in a roasting pan.
Slice the bottom and tops off the oranges, then slice into sections leaving on the peel. Set aside.
Peel the garlic and gather the herbs. I have a little planter in my kitchen and just snip from it when I need to.
Peel and slice the carrots into chunks and set aside.
Rub the chicken all over with the olive oilYou deserve to have the absolute best things levitra 60 mg you can eat to help you out from both these troubles.. Stuff the cavity with the garlic, orange sections and sage. Add a bit of butter pieces to the cavity as well. Stuff the chicken until there’s no room left. Any left over orange sections always make a tasty and healthy snack for the kids to munch on while they wait for the chicken.
Lift the skin of the chicken up a wedge in some butter pieces and the sprig of thyme. Jasmine loves helping to do this. She calls it filling the chicken’s pocket.
Add the carrots to the roasting pan. I add then just under the cavity so juices spill out and season them.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then flip it over breast side down to prepare for roasting. Add a couple of sage leaves to the top of the chicken and pop into a 400-degree oven for about an hour, depending on how big your chicken is.
When the chicken is done and tender, drizzle the pomegranate glaze over the top and let bake for another ten minutes.
Remove from oven, let sit for about ten minutes before carving and serving.
Serve with the sides of your choice. We like ours with roasted potatoes and a nice salad.
Citrus Gravy
Brown about 2 tablespoons flour in a heavy skillet. Add the giblets you set aside earlier and drippings from the roasted chicken and whisk till there are no lumps. Cook on low heat for about 15 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste.