I’ve been wanting to roast a chicken for quite some time now and I figured a juicy, moist roast chicken served with some sweet potato fries would provide a healthy alternative to curb my craving for some comfort food.  And, the bonus with a roasting a chicken is that I get to make a delicious salad with the leftover chicken.  I have to say, the chicken was wonderful and the sweet potato fries were even better than I expected.  Even if you don’t like sweet potatoes I guarantee you will like these fries!  I want to acknowledge Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network for the chicken recipe – as you may be beginning to tell she is one of my faves!  Hope you enjoy these recipes – I know I will be making them again in my household.

Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Citrus

Ingredients

• 1 (5 to 6-pound) whole roasting chicken
• Salt and pepper
• 1 orange, quartered
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 head garlic, halved crosswise, plus 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• Chicken broth ( approximately 28oz.)
• 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tsps. dried oregano (use more if you are using fresh oregano)
• Kitchen string

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F and place rack in center of oven.

Remove neck & giblets from chicken (discard), pat dry the chicken and season with salt and pepper (inside and outside).  Stuff the cavity with the quartered lemon, quartered orange and garlic head.  You may have some difficulty getting everything inside the chicken which is okay, just place any remaining items in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Place chicken (breast side up) on rack of roasting pan.  Pour a small amount of chicken broth on the bottom of the roasting pan to keep pan juices from burning.  Tie legs of chicken together with kitchen string to help hold its shape.  Place chicken in oven and roast for 1 hour.  Baste occasionally and continue to add chicken broth to pan as needed to keep pan juices from burning.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together orange juice concentrate, lemon juice, olive oil, chopped garlic and oregano.  After the chicken has cooked for an hour, brush this mixture over the chicken.  Return to the oven and cook for an additional 45-60 mins, until a meat thermometer reads 170F.  Continue to baste the chicken during this time,  adding chicken broth to the bottom of the pan and brushing with the orange juice mixture.

Once the chicken has cooked, transfer to a platter and tent with foil.  Do NOT discard the juice from the bottom of your roasting pan.  Place the roasting pan directly on your stove over medium low heat.  Whisk in any remaining broth ( I added about 1.5 cups) and any additional orange juice mixture you may have leftover.  Cook this until it has reduced to approximately one cup of liquid (stirring often).  Once reduced, strain liquid into a bowl to remove any solids.  Spoon fat from top of sauce and serve pan sauce with chicken.

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

• Sweet potatoes (approximately 1 per person)
• Olive oil
• Brown Sugar
• Kosher salt
• Chili powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 425F.

Cut sweet potatoes into wedges.  Approximately 8-12 wedges per potato.  Just be sure to cut all the wedges the same size so the potatoes cook evenly.

Toss the wedges with enough olive oil to coat.  Sprinkle with salt, brown sugar and chili powder.  The amount will really depend on how many potatoes you are making.  I made two potatoes using approximately two tsps. of brown sugar,  two tsps. salt and 1/4 tsp chili powder.  Certainly adjust these measurements depending on how sweet or spicy you like it!  If you like things extra spicy, a pinch of cayenne pepper would do the trick.

Spread evenly on a baking sheet and cook for approximately 30 minutes, turning once during cooking.

However, the recipe I’m sharing today is a take on chicken marsala courtesy of my absolute favorite Food Network chef, Giada De Laurentiis.  As always,  I did take some liberties with this recipe – one of the main things I changed was the fact that I did not add mushrooms.  Traditionally marsala dishes always include mushrooms but that is one thing that the Cooking Chemist just does not like so you won’t see too many fungi dishes on this blog.  However, if you are a mushroom lover this would be a perfect recipe to add some in.  I’ll point out the spot in the recipe on when best to add the mushrooms if you are so inclined.

Oh, just wanted to give a few hints on what to expect next week from the Cooking Chemist.  I’m making some Italian Wedding Soup tonight so I’ll share that experience with you.  Also, I’m making buffalo chicken dip and lemon cupcakes this weekend for a Superbowl party that I’m attending on Sunday.  I’ll also be running a contest to win a free cookbook and reviewing some of my favorite kitchen gadgets.  Sounds like the Cooking Chemist will be busy!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, each breast cut crosswise into 3 pieces (3 to 4 breasts)
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese (4 oz.)
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 12 ounces dried long pasta (linguine or fettucine work best)

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta  and cook according to directions (al dente).  Drain. Toss the pasta with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

While the pasts is cooking, sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.   Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cool slightly.

While the chicken cools, melt the butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion and garlic and saute until tender, about 4 minutes. If you were using mushrooms you would add them at this point and cook until tender. Add the wine and simmer until it is reduced by half, about 4 minutes – make sure to lightly scrap the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown bits from the chicken which adds more flavor to your sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the mascarpone and mustard.  Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Swirl the pasta onto serving plates. Spoon the chicken mixture over top and serve.  I also sprinkle some extra parsley on top of the dish for extra color and flavor.  I served a mixed green salad with this meal as well.

Coating the chicken with the Greek yogurt is really what helps to keep this chicken moist and of course is how the coating “sticks” to the chicken.  I’ve marinated chicken in yogurt before and have always found the results to be very good.  The yogurt not only keeps the chicken moist it also helps to tenderize the chicken.  Additionally, the “breading” used in this recipe is really creative, the rice cereal and bagel chips provide a great crunch that does not get soggy.  Overall, a good, solid recipe.  Next time I make this I might add some herbs and garlic to the breading to get even more flavor out of this recipe.

This recipe is courtesy of the Food Network Magazine with a few minor changes from the Cooking Chemist.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 1/3 cups crispy rice cereal
• 2 1/4 cups bagel chips
• 5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt (2%)
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (the original recipe called for 4 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs or halved bone-in breasts which I’m sure gives this recipe even more flavor but I had boneless, skinless chicken breasts in my fridge so I decided to use them and the results were still really good)
• 1 bunch asparagus
• Sriracha (or ketchup if you are serving to kids or people who don’t like it spicy)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Set a rack (I just used a cooling rack that I normally cool cookies with) on a foil-lined baking sheet and generously coat the rack with cooking spray.  This is an important step because you want the entire chicken to get crispy – if you place the chicken directly on the baking sheet it will be crispy on the top but soggy on the bottom.

Finely grind the cereal and bagel chips in a food processor and transfer to a large resealable plastic bag. Add 3 teaspoons olive oil, the paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste and toss.  I didn’t bother with the food processor – I just put the cereal and bagel chips in a resealable bag and used a small frying pan to crush them up.  This worked just fine and it’s an excellent way to relieve stress!

Whisk 1/2 cup yogurt and the mustard in a shallow bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat, then transfer to the bag; seal and shake to coat. Place the chicken on the rack and mist with cooking spray.

Bake until the chicken is crisp and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 160 degrees F, about 30 minutes. About half way through the cooking time, toss the asparagus with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, salt and pepper and place alongside the chicken (you can place the asparagus directly on the rack next to the chicken and it will cook up nicely).

Make the dipping sauce: Mix the remaining 1 cup yogurt and sriracha to taste in a bowl (I used about 2 tsps). Serve the chicken and asparagus with the sauce.

Hope everybody enjoys.  I know the picture isn’t great – I hope to be the owner of a new camera soon which will hopefully result in beautiful food photos!