Orange, Garlic and Tarragon Roast Chicken

Orange, Garlic and Tarragon Roast Chicken

This time of year, roasting a whole chicken is a good idea.  You have a great, hot meal one night, followed by a tasty chicken salad for lunch the next day, and of course – you can make a great stock out of the carcass and a few aromatic vegetables to freeze and use later.

We have a lot of good citrus fruit this time of year here in Florida. I wanted to make a roast chicken to go with the season. 

Here’s what I did:

I started with a 5 lb. whole Chicken.  I preheated my oven to 350.   I seasoned the cleaned chicken by liberally rubbing Sea Salt and Pepper into the cavity and to the chicken.  I added two cloves of Garlic into the cavity (no need to peel).  I also added half of a fresh Clementine and two springs or fresh Oregano to the cavity. 

If you can’t find a Clementine, you can use half of a Tangerine or a ¼ of an Orange.  I selected the Clementine because they are super sweet. 

Florida Clementine

I squeezed the other half of the Clementine into a small bowl and added two tablespoons of Olive Oil. 

I rubbed the chicken down with the mixture.

I added aromatics the pan; celery, 1/4 sliced sweet onion, and 2 chopped carrots (chop into chunks).  I put the lid on the roasting pan and I baked the chicken at 350 for one hour. 

After one hour, I removed the lid.  I mixed a cup of Orange Juice with two tablespoons of bottled Minced Garlic (I use bottled minced garlic for this for this dish because it doesn’t seem to burn, as the garlic is already marinating in oil). 

I added One tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar and ½ tablespoon Low Sodium Soy Sauce to the orange juice.  Then I added a teaspoon of dried Tarragon.

I mixed it all together, poured about a fourth of a cup of the basting mixture into another bowl for basting the chicken.  I reserved the rest.

I basted the chicken every 10 – 15 minutes, until internal temperature reached 160 at the breast and it was cooked through.  I always let my chicken rest about 20 Minutes under a tin foil tent.

Note:  Total cooking time, depending on your oven, is about 1 hour and 30 plus minutes.  Because you are opening the oven frequently to baste, you might need to add on an extra 10-15, again, depending on your oven.

  

Chicken, right out of the oven!

While the chicken was resting, I removed the aromatics from the pan.  I added the reserved basting liqued to the pan drippings, deglazing the pan.  I brought the mixture to a boil and then I reduced to simmer for about 10 minutes, until the sauce reduced by half.  I like to spoon the sauce over the sliced chicken.

For the full recipe, please visit our community page on Facebook under the “Chicken, Chicken and More Chicken” discussion thread.