Roasted Chicken with Clementines

Found in the Sunday New York Times, May 5, 2024. Recipe by Genevieve Ko.

A really delicious light roast chicken, the clementines enhance this roast chicken evoking memories of a summer breeze.

Ingredients

7 clementines or tangerines

1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon ground cayenne

1 4 lb whole chicken

8 slices fresh ginger

2 wedges lemon, skin on

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Squeeze the juice from 5 clementines into a bowl, keep the spent peels. Cut the remaining clementines into circles with their peels intact and set aside. Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and cayenne to the clementine juice and whisk until the sugar dissolves.

Rinse the chicken and pat dry,

Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the clementine peels and 6 ginger slices into the cavity.I also added some lemon wedges too. Place in a large oven proof skillet or baking dish and scatter the clementine wedges and remaining ginger slices around the chicken

Pour the juice mixture slowly over the chicken and then place in the over. Roast for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, basted the chicken with the pan sauce, continue roasting, basting every 10 minutes until the chicken is browned and cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes longer. An instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast would register 155 degrees and, in the leg, 170 degrees. The chicken will continue to cook while it rests.

Transfer the chicken to a platter or cutting board. The pan sauce may have thickened, so add a little water and reheat over the stove, stirring constantly.  Discard the ginger.

Serve the chicken whole or carved with the glaze poured all over the meat.

MaryJane's Magnificent Salad

 Whenever we eat over at Mary Jane’s house, I ask her to make her salad which is delicious with spears of asparagus in long strips tossed with baby arugula and spring mix lettuce leaves Perhaps she adds  shaved Parmesan and toasted almonds, but it’s just as good without either. I think it’s the dressing that is the secret to this salad. I’ve omitted cheese and almonds and just added apples when I make it..

Ingredients for the dressing

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon citrus champagne vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and black pepper to taste

Ingredients for the salad

1 pound asparagus, woody ends trimmed/asparagus tips

6 oz fresh arugula

Romaine lettuce

1 scallion cut lengthwise into thin strips and then chopped into sections 2 inches long.

1 apple, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces.

1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese (optional)

1/4 cup toasted almonds or walnuts (optional)

Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

Make the dressing in a bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, honey and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste

Wash the arugula, asparagus and spring mix lettuce, drain in a colander and add to salad bowl.

Add the apple and pour the dressing over the salad mixture

Serve immediately or keep the salad in the fridge covered and pour the dressing over just before serving.