Autumn Roast Chicken

I think we've roasted more chickens (see here and here and here and here) in the last year than in the previous ten years, mainly because of Wayne's "festive dinner roasts" list. Doesn't this one - Fall Harvest Cider Roasted Chicken with Walnut, Goat Cheese, and Red Grapes - sound super intriguing? It was. I doubt we'll ever make it again, but we're glad we tried it once.

This dish had several very interesting combinations which actually worked really well together. The first was mixing goat cheese with chopped candied walnuts, rosemary and sage. That was then spread under the skin of the chicken. (What didn't fit was plopped on the outside.) It was a great mixture of tart and tangy and smooth and crunchy, extremely flavorful, and I'll definitely keep this part of the recipe in mind for the future.

I guess this wasn't really a "combination" but the basting sauce was apple cider that had been simmered until reduced in half.

After inserting a garlic bulb and apple slices into its cavity, I placed the chicken on a bed of more sliced apples and red grapes, drizzled with olive oil, added some pats of butter, seasoned with salt and pepper, and roasted it at 425 degrees for about 1 1/4 hours.

The result was a beautifully crisped, yet still moist, chicken dinner. The grapes were disappointingly pale and no longer beautiful, which makes sense because they cooked in a bunch of broth; however, that was surprising because the picture in the recipe didn't have that result. Maybe they cooked their chicken on a rack. Even if they didn't look too appetizing, the addition of fruit made for a unique, tasty dinner.

The leftover "drippings" made a great base for a quick Mulligatawny-style soup the next day. I doubt I could ever duplicate it exactly, but Wayne really liked it, so maybe we'll try. This had apple cider and chicken broth as the base. I'd say it was a 1:1 ratio, but it was really way too sweet, so next time I'd use less cider. I sautéed diced onions and carrots in butter and curry powder and thyme for the seasoning, and then added some leftover chicken, apples, and grapes. In addition I added some flour for thickening and a bit of heavy cream. There were teeny bits of the goat cheese-walnut mixture (from the drippings) floating around as well which added a nice touch. It's always great when an experiment is successful!