Recipe Store

Culinary Vacations for Lovers of Food and Wine

France

Vineyard Glazed Roast Chicken

“Enjoy harvest season’s bounty with this savoury and impressive dish.”

Ingredients:

1 roasting chicken

2 tbsp melted butter

1 tsp each, sea salt and coarsely ground pepper

3 cups blue grapes (see substitution note)

2 tbsp each brown sugar and balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 tbsp flour

1 cup water

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).  Rinse the chicken, pat dry and rub all over with melted butter.  Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper.

2) Truss legs together and bend wings under chicken.  Place in a shallow roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, crush the grapes in a saucepan with a potato masher (or a heavy object in a saucepan).  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for five minutes.  Strain and discard skins and seeds (if you leave skins and seeds sitting in your strainer a bit longer, more juice will slowly strain through).

4) Stir brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, garlic and rosemary into the juice.  Return to the saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes or until reduced and slightly thickened. 

5) After the first 30 minutes of roasting, brush chicken liberally with glaze every 15 minutes.  Roast for approximately one hour longer until fully cooked.  Remove from the oven and tent with foil for 10 minutes before carving. 

6) Skim or pour off fat from roasting pan, you are left with the juices.  You can serve the chicken with the juices or make gravy (simply add flour to thicken, blend well and slowly add water)

7) Carve chicken and serve the juices or gravy on the side.

Substitution:  Blue grapes are not always easy to find.  Substitute Muscat grapes for blue grapes if you can’t find them, use 1 ¼ cups for each cup of blue grapes.

If you have questions about any of these recipes don’t hesitate to ask us – the recipes are in the chef’s own words.