Roasted Chicken with Tangerines and Olives

Now, you all know I am a huge fan of EveryDay Food Magazine. Really, Martha, what were you thinking by getting rid of our beloved little digest!?

And there has never really been a recipe I tried from EveryDay Food that I haven’t liked … until now. I think it’s just a matter of taste as I am sure many have tried this and loved it, but the brininess of the olives and the sweetness of the tangerines … well, YUCK. It just didn’t work for me. That and someone around here does not like olives. That should have been my first clue.

It may work for you.

• 1 whole organic chicken, cut into pieces
• salt and pepper
• 3 tangerines, unpeeled, quartered
• 2 T tangerine juice
• 2/3 C pitted green olives 4 oz
• 4 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 T honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Arrange chicken pieces on a rimmed baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Add tangerines and olives and garlic to pan. Roast 30 minutes.

NOTE: I used only thighs.

Whisk together juice and honey. Remove pan from oven and brush chicken with juice mixture. Return to oven for another 10-15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

NOTE: If I make this again, I’ll skip the olives and perhaps add in fennel, or something that better compliments the tangerines.

Skillet Rosemary Chicken

The purging of piles continues.

The piles of magazines into torn out piles of recipes. The torn out piles of recipes into the recycling pile or into a further to-be-made pile. And the to-be-made pile, for the most part into the ‘what was I thinking’ pile.

In this pile of torn out recipes, I found this recipe for Skillet Rosemary Chicken from the May 2010 Food Network Magazine. (See how long this mania has been going on!?). I had seen this on Pinterest a couple of times, and had added it to my ‘must try’ recipes there. It was fate.

The original recipe called for 10 ozs of cremini mushrooms, but being my mother’s daughter, I didn’t read the recipe all the way through and forgot to buy mushrooms.

So, there I was staring into the abyss that is my fridge and I came across a treasure I recently found at Trader Joe’s – Bacon Ends & Pieces. Hmmmm, that might work. So I cut up about 4 ozs of the bacon and cooked that, took it out and let it drain. Then I added the chicken and went from there. I added the bacon in with the potatoes to finish cooking.

• 1/2 lb small red-skinned potatoes, halved or quartered
• Kosher salt
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 T rosemary leaves
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Juice of 2 lemons (squeezed halves kept)
• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 skin on, bone in chicken breasts
• 4 ozs bacon, cut up

Preheat oven to 450

Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan and salt the water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Pile the loose rosemary leave, garlic, 2 teaspoons of salt and the red pepper flakes on a cutting board and mince and mash into a paste.

Add to a bowl, add the juice from one lemon and the olive oil, and stir. Add the chicken and turn to coat.

Heat large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp. remove from pan and rain. leave bacon renderings in skillet. Add chicken skin side down, cover and cook until the skin browns, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken, add bacon and potatoes, drizzle juice of second lemon. Add rosemary sprigs and squeezed lemon halves.

NOTE: The marinade was so good, I added that to the skillet as well.

Transfer to oven and roast, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.

Chicken with Tomato Herb Pan Sauce

I don’t know about you, but I have PILES of cooking magazines EVERYwhere in my house.

Every once in a while I feel the need to purge the piles. I spend hours upon hours pouring through them, tearing out recipes that I have EVERY intention of making. HA!

These torn out pages then become piles of their own. And then these piles begin to get unwieldy

The next step becomes going through these piles and piles of torn out recipes. I sit there and look at some of these pages thinking to myself, ‘What the heck were you thinking, girl? You are NEVER going to make this!’

Going through these pile I found this recipe for Chicken with Tomato Herb Pan Sauce from an issue of Bon Appetit in July 2011. Yes, it’s been at least that long since I last weeded through the piles!

This was delicious and quick and super easy. Lots of flavor packed into the oregano butter that finds its way into the tomatoes and chicken. I served this with orzo that I saved a tiny bit of the oregano butter to mix into.

Chicken:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and halved (4 halves total)
• Salt and pepper
• ¾ cup flour

For the sauce:

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1½ tsp. fresh oregano, minced
• ½ tsp. sweet paprika
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes (about 12 oz.)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
• 1 tbsp. minced fresh parsley

Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour, shaking off the excess. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic, oregano, and paprika. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the oregano butter with the olive oil. Place the chicken breast halves in the skillet and cook until golden brown on each side and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and set aside.

Increase the heat to high and add the tomatoes to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to char and burst, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining butter mixture to the pan.

Crush the tomatoes slightly to release their juices and continue stirring until the butter is melted. Add the wine or broth to the pan, scraping the bottom to loosen the browned bits. Cook for a minute more until well blended.

Slice the chicken, transfer to serving plates, and top with the pan sauce. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

NOTE: Nothing to change! Totally WOW! Really quick and easy to put together. Great for a mid-week, guests coming over dinner.