Tuesday, January 5, 2010

roasted chicken n grapes

roasted chicken n grapes
I came home tonight and wanted something comfy in my tummy. Again, too lazy to go to the store, I peeped my fridge to see what was available. hmmm... chicken, grapes... arugula, spinach, avocado... buttery yellow dutch taters, shallots... and lots of rice jasmine, short, long, brown, you name it, I love rice oh, and wine, lots of wine too.

I'm a big fan of mixing up meat and fruit... easy way to balance a savory dish wish sweetness. So how about chicken and grapes...? Here you go:

Chicken n Grapes

4 lbs of Chicken be it a whole chicken or pieces, it just so happened I had 6 legs
1 lb of grapes that's definitely an estimate, use your best judgement
5 shallots I LOVE shallots, I think they go with everything, you can us less if you'd like
2 cups of white wine I had some 2 buck chuck, pinot grigio to donate... wine purist puke if you will
6 sprigs of thyme I love thyme too... 
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil

Preheat your oven to 400 F
Chop the shallots length-wise in forths, strip the thyme sprigs leaving a few shot springs is fine, and separate the grapes. 
Toss them all in a bowl with some olive oil and put to the side. 

Salt, pepper and olive oil your chicken, rub it good. 

If you have a dutch oven, great!, if not, just a big pan just make sure that it'll fit all the chicken n grapes in will do. Heat up the pan with some olive oil and fry the outers of the rubbed chicken until it is ideally crisp and golden I'm always impatient so golden is fine for me :) you may need to do 2 or 3 batches depending on your pan.

Once golden, add in the grape mixture to the pan. 
Try and evenly disperse the fruit and chicken in other words, don't have all the chicken be at the bottom and all the grape mixture be at the top. 

Pour in wine, cover it up and pop it in the oven
Let cook for 1 hr - 1.5 hrs. 
While you wait, balance your nutrients and makes some sides.

I'm also a big believer in letting your meat sit for a minute about 10 is good so all the juices stay in as much as possible. Plate the chicken and scoop ladle the yummy juices and grapes in a separate bowl to enjoy while eating if you throw it away, you're a fool, this is the best part!

I served it with Dutch potatoes & shallots, arugula-spinach-avocado salad, and some rice it soaks up the best part so good 

Enjoy my friends did!

with love and a full belly,

farisita

7 comments:

  1. oh it was... nothin like home cookin ;)

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  2. Looks so good omg. I wish i could whip up something this nice when I just got in and glanced in my fridge :|

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  3. You can! practice makes perfect ;)

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  4. Mmmm this looks so delicious! I would have never thought of eating chicken with grapes before but they seem like a good combination.

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  5. The food you cook looks so goooood :)

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