Roast Chicken with Apples and Grapes
Roast Chicken with Apples and Grapes
This recipe from the Asturias area of Spain comes from The Food of Spain by Claudia Roden.
Ingredients
- 5 Golden Delicious apples
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 pounds seedless white grapes
- 1 chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds)
- salt and pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup butter (5 1/3 tablespoons)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Peel and core the apples. Cut one in half or quarters to fit easily inside the chicken cavity. Cut the rest into 8 slices each. Put them in a bowl of water with lemon juice to prevent discoloring.
- Blend half the grapes in a food processor. Place a strainer over a bowl and pour the blended grapes in the strainer, pressing the mush using a wooden spoon. You should half about a cup of juice.
- Pat the chicken dry and place in a baking dish. Stuff with the halved or quartered apple. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and rub with 1 tablespoon of oil. Turn the bird breast side down and pour about 1/2 cup of the grape juice over it.
- Roast the chicken in the over for 45 minutes.
- While the chicken is roasting, heat the butter with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Drain the apple slices. Put the drained apple slices and the remaining grapes in the skillet and saute over medium heat, turning the fruit once, until the grapes are soft and golden and the apples tender and caramelized. This can take 20 minutes.
- Turn the chicken over and pour the remaining grape juice over it and return to the oven. Roast for another 30 minutes or until the chicken skin is browned and caramelized, and the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and body of the bird with a pointed knife.
- Turn off the oven and remove the chicken to rest. Meanwhile, place the grapes and apples in the oven until you are ready to serve the chicken.
Options:
- You can substitute a handful of dark or golden raisins or 6 to 8 moist, pitted prunes, cut into pieces, for the sauteed grapes. Add them to the skillet with the apples.
