Honey-Orange Roasted Chicken

I never had a problem with trying to think up new ways to roast a chicken before I joined Painted Hill's CSA. It seems like we've gotten a whole chicken in our monthly packages for at least the last few months. Not that I'm complaining! It's incredible chicken. But it does get boring, doing the same (delicious!) roast chicken every time.

But I've found yet another way to roast! This chicken is fabulous. It's slightly sweet, slightly citrus-y, a little garlicky, and has lots of flavor. It's also easy to make and is something a little different from the ordinary roasted chicken.

All the flavor for the chicken comes from what goes inside it. Garlic, orange, ginger, honey, thyme, red pepper, and just a bit of nutmeg.

Take half an orange and cut it into wedges.

Use the flat side of your knife to crush the garlic, and throw it in with the oranges.

Add the thyme, crushed red pepper flakes, and ginger. I used dried ginger slices, but an inch-long knob of ginger cut into similarly shaped slices would be fine too.

And don't forget to add a little salt, and maybe some black pepper.

Drizzle some honey over the top of everything.

Can't go wrong with honey.

Be sure to give everything a good stir.

Now it's time for the chicken. Remove any giblets. Rinse it well under cool water, and then pat it dry.

Fold the wing tips underneath the chicken's body. This will keep them from getting too dark and/or burning.

Stuff the inside of the chicken with the honey-orange mixture. Be sure to get all the honey and herbs in!

Use kitchen twine or a silicone band (or any other method you can think of to truss your chicken) to join the legs together. You don't want them to be tightly together. Just enough to close the chicken cavity.

Grab the other half of the orange and squeeze the juice over the top of the chicken.

Don't forget to salt and pepper the outside of the chicken too.

Pop the chicken into a 425F oven for about 60 minutes (for a 3-4 lb. chicken. If yours is bigger, add about 20 minutes per pound). Be sure to check on it once in a while.

This is about halfway through. See how it's starting to get dark?

To keep the outside from getting too dark before the chicken has cooked, I took a large piece of aluminum foil and made a little foil tent to cover the chicken (shiny side out!) You may or may not have to do this to your chicken.

Then back in the oven it went.

If you start to smell burning, that means the little bit of orange juice at the bottom of the pan is burning. Just add a little bit of water to prevent that.

Here's what it looked like after roasting!

Let it rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting into it. That'll give you enough time to work out some side dishes (how about some Balsamic Grilled Asparagus, Easy Green Beans, or Sweet Roasted Squash?)








With just a few minutes of prep and then an hour or two of oven time, you've made your family a chicken they won't forget!

Recipe: Honey-Orange Roasted Chicken

1/2 orange, cut into 8 pieces
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 tsp. thyme
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
3 1-inch long slices of dried ginger (or a sliced 1-inch long piece of fresh)
1/4 c. honey

1 3-4 lb. chicken
1/2 orange
salt and pepper

In a bowl, combine orange pieces, garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes, ginger, and honey.

Wash chicken and pat dry.

Stuff  chicken cavity with orange mixture. Truss chicken (tie legs and tuck wings underneath the body). Squeeze the remaining orange half over the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast chicken in the oven until done. ~60 minutes for a 3-4 lb. chicken, ~75-105 minutes for anything up to 6.5 lbs.

Let chicken rest 10-15 minutes before cutting.