This recipe, from a recent compilation in Fine Cooking called “One Pot Meals”, went from the page to a pot in the blink of an eye. It called for all kinds of goodies that I love: chicken, root veggies, pomegranate and the perfect spices to tie them together. The glaze roasted into a sexy ruby color, and the skin of the chicken will make anyone smile. So, why is it a work in progress, you might ask? Read on….
ORANGE POMEGRANATE CHICKEN
(adapted from Fine Cooking magazine)
1 large orange, zested and juiced
1 cup pomegranate juice
1-1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
Freshly ground black pepper
6 tsp. olive oil
Kosher salt
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium parsnips, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 leeks, white part only, cut in 1/4 inch slices
4-lb. chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Heat the oven to 400°F.
In a medium saucepan, Combine the orange juice and pomegranate juice in a saucepan, bring to a boil and reduce it to 1/4 cup (about 20 minutes). Add half of the thyme (eye balling is fine), all the cinnamon, and black pepper (about 1/4 tsp or according to your taste). Divide the mixture between two small bowls. To one bowl add 2 tsp. of the oil and 1/2 tsp. salt. To the other add the chicken broth, all but 1 tsp. of the orange zest, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
Scatter the sweet potatoes, parsnips, and leeks over the bottom of a dish that measures about 10 x 15 x 2 inches. Toss with the remaining 4 tsp. of oil and the rest of the thyme. Arrange the chicken pieces, skin side up, on top of the vegetables and brush with all of the juice-oil mixture. Roast for 30 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375°F. Pour the reduced pomegranate-chicken broth mixture around the chicken pieces and scatter the walnuts around them. Return the pan to the oven and roast until the vegetables are tender and an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F in several pieces of chicken, 20 to 30 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to a serving dish. Remove the veggies and walnuts with a slotted spoon, season them lightly with salt, sprinkle the remaining orange zest all over the meat and veggies. Pour the liquid from the roasting pan in a pyrex type container, remove as much fat as possible. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper and pour into a pitcher to serve with the food.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
Comments: Make sure you use pure pomegranate juice (yes, it is expensive compared to blends, but worth it in this case, because you will concentrate it quite a bit). I’d love to give this recipe two thumbs all the way up, but it had some problems. Many of the pieces of sweet potatoes and parsnips were not completely cooked: their centers were still hard. I tested some with a fork before removing from the oven, but as Murphy’s Law would have it, those were perfect… (sigh). Next time I’ll cover the dish with foil during the first 30 minutes, then pour the liquid all over it and roast it uncovered, perhaps adding a little more water if the veggies dry up during the final roasting. I suspect that with this minor change it will be a winner.
One pot meals are such life-savers for a busy cook, and this recipe, apart from reducing the pomegranate/orange juice, doesn’t require much work. Even better, the reduction could be made a couple of days in advance. With a nice loaf of bread or a green salad, dinner is ready!
ONE YEAR AGO: A Message from WordPress
TWO YEARS AGO: Turkish Chicken Kebabs
I love roast chicken almost any way and the orange/pomegranate braise sounds interesting though I do wonder about the cinnamon. 🙂
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I guess you can leave the cinnamon out – or use less, maybe? 😉
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Sally, this dish is gorgeous! Full of color and flavor! I’m all about one pot meals – makes clean up much easier too!!
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ONe pot meals are very convenient, and that compilation by FC has a ton of great recipes, I have a bunch of them marked to try “soon”. You know how it goes….
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Hmmm, I hate it when things are almost there. I’d rather they just be failures. I think your fixes will work though. Looks like it will be great.
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I’ve got my share of failures, maybe I should blog some of those as “warnings” 😉
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This looks absolutely delicious. We have really been enjoying pom this winter. And I love how easy this is-perfect for our many crazy nights.
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Phil loves pomegranate juice, and adds it to his lunch smoothies quite often. Gives a great color, and unique taste…
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I may steal the seasonings here and work up something with pomegranate molasses, which I keep on hand (it’s just pomegranate juice boiled down to a syrup). Pomegranate, orange and thyme sound lovely together.
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I’ve seen quite a few recipes calling for pomegranate molasses, and kept my eye open for it, but so far, no luck. Seems like a great ingredient to play with
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I get it at an Arab grocery. We have quite a few Middle Eastern suppliers around here. I’m sure you can make your own by boiling down pomegranate juice.
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This would be my husband favorite. He is crazy with anything that mention pomegranate 🙂
Anyway, I also want to take the opportunity to wish you and your love one a very happy year 2012. Hope it will bring lots of good luck and success at what you are doing, both in life and at work.
Xoxo,
Dewi
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Thanks, Dewi! Your husband and mine are pomegranate brothers then! 😉
Obviously, we have great taste in choosing our partners!
Hope you are having a great 2012, and from the fantastic recipes you’ve been blogging about, I know you are….
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i really like the sound of this recipe..lovely flavours and a one pot wonder to boot! yum..
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I must re-make it with my changes to get it right next time. The root veggies that were properly cooked were so tasty, and the chicken was superb, but having those hard pieces spoiled the fun.
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I am loving the flavors you have working together here- the pomegranate sound amazing for chicken
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I must cook more often with pomegranate juice, that reduction would go well in many dishes, I am sure
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The flavor combination in this dish sounds amazing, even if the directions were a little off. Pomegranate in savory dishes always sounds good to me!
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Agreed! 😉
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Sally, what a great recipe – the flavours are truly outstanding! The only way to learn is by doing so… we are all works in progress 😉 as are our recipes… this one’s got me all excited!
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Very true… everything, in a way is a work in progress…. The problem is that too often I am guilty of not repeating a recipe to perfect it. But still, learning what went wrong with this one can help in future, different recipes too.
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This looks wonderful, Sally! I was looking at your Osso Bucco recipe for this weekend and saw this one for another time. I have a question about the reducing process. The instructions say to reduce the juices to 1/4 cup (20 minutes) then add the thyme and cinnamon and reduce to 1/4 cup (15 minutes). Is the first 1/4 cup a typo? Thanks
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Typo…. sorry. I modified from the original, and had a senior moment when I made the text
Thanks for catching it, I will modify right away, remove the PDF and work on it later today
THanks so much for pointing this problem, I hate when it happens, but…. apparently Murphy’s Law is merciless with me!
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Timing those things is always tricky, isn’t it? But this dish looks splendid Sally, so I’m sure it will be worth perfecting!
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My thoughts too, Celia. I even consider now parboiling the root veggies before adding to the roasting pan, but maybe just covering would do the job.
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I munched orange pomegranate fruit salad through a large chunk of the holiday season, I’m really liking the sounds of this!
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Pomegranates are wonderful, we love to crack one open and munch on the seeds every once in a while.
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Sally here is a link to my favorite spice store in NYC, they have the best unusual hard to find ingredients, they also ship! I use the Cortas brand of Pom Molasses, they are perfect! http://kalustyans.com/searchcatalog.asp
Enjoy
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That is an AMAZING STORE! I bookmarked it, and cannot believe the amount of stuff they offer!
Thank you SOOOO MUCH!
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You’re so welcome, I have to go with a list to make sure I get what I need, because I’m always distracted by things I didn’t see on the last visit. DW thinks I’d save money if I ordered online! LOL!! If you are ever this way it’s a must see stop!
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These are really good! I didn’t change anything and I loved it! It turned out all to be amazing! Visit http://www.gourmandia.fr for more great and appetizing recipes. I have learned more practical knowledge from this site. Thanks!
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