Thursday, March 12, 2009

Five-Spice Roast Chicken


I have a subscription to Bon Appetit magazine. Every month, they feature a different family style meal. Usually, something quick & kid-friendly. Most of the time, I try them out. This month's is recipe for 5-spice Roast Chicken. I've adapted it slightly here.
After making it twice already, the Bozo's have renamed it, "Gingerbread Chicken".
Five-Spice, or what is sometimes called Chinese Five-Spice, is a spice blend that includes fennel seeds, cloves, star anise, white pepper, and cinnamon.
The Bozo's love roasted chicken any way you make it. But, the cinnamon adds an extra kid-friendly spin.

Begin with a 3-4 pound whole chicken,

and cut it up into 8 serving pieces...2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, and 2 breasts, cut into 2 pieces each. I didn't photograph the graphic dismantling of the chicken, as it just doesn't make for pretty pictures. But, you can find tips on how to do it online.

No one here eats the wings, unless they are covered in hot sauce & served with blue cheese dressing...so, I save any discarded parts for chicken stock. This is why I like to use a whole bird. But, you can easily just buy a chicken already cut up, or ask your butcher to do it for you. If your family prefers only white meat, you could buy several bone-in chicken breasts as well.

To the chicken, add 4 cloves of minced garlic, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt,

2 tablespoons of olive oil,

and a teaspoon of five-spice powder.

Mix it all up to coat the chicken thoroughly.
Refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Cut up 2 onions into wedges & scatter them over the bottom of a roasting pan.

Lay the chicken over them, skin side up & roast for 45 minutes.

Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes & serve.

1 comments:

Reeni said...

I bet this smells great cooking! YUM!

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