Ginger Roast Chicken

Since Ive moved into an apartment, cooking has become a big part of my life. It was always pretty central, but now that I dont automatically have a meal plan due to living in a dorm, Im pretty much on my own. As a result, Ive been experimenting with some easy but yummy dishes, and this is one of my favorites. And, total disclosure: I usually just eye-ball ingredients, so these are estimates.

  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 whole chicken
  • 1 tbsp. Apricot jam
  • 1 tsp. Cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • Enough ground ginger to cover the chicken and potatoes
  • About a cup of scallions
  • 4-5 potatoes, peeled
  • Some red or white wine

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in a cup, and then add in the apricot jam. Stir vigorously. You should get a sort of gooey paste that is dark orange in color. Add cinnamon and stir.

Peel and quarter the potatoes. If theyre big potatoes, cut them up so that theyre about bite-sized. Season with salt and pepper and put aside.

Put the chicken in a roasting pan and baste with the apricot jam/butter/cinnamon mixture. Put potatoes in the pan as well (you can baste these too, actually; it makes them really nice and sweet, almost caramelized).

Cut up scallions into centimeter-sized pieces and sprinkle around the roasting pan. Then take the ginger and sprinkle it liberally throughout the pan, focusing on the chicken.

Stick the pan in the oven and baste about every twenty minutes with the apricot jam mixture. The amount of time it takes depends on the size of the chicken, but usually it takes about an hour and a half.

Take the pan out and remove the chicken and potatoes. You should now have a delicious concoction of chicken juices and baste by-product remaining in the pan.

Put the pan on the stove and heat it a bit; then pour in some red wine (enough to coat the bottom of the pan) and scrape the pan vigorously to remove all the bits on the bottom. You can let this mixture boil down a bit to get a thicker sauce. Get a funnel if you need, and pour the sauce into a container.

Now, just carve up the chicken (or do what I do, and get your mom to do it for you), add potatoes and sauce, and enjoy!