Roast Chicken with Potatoes

[keltin]

Roast Chicken with Potatoes

Ingredients:

Potato Seasoning
2 Tbsp Oil
1/2 Tbsp Orange Juice
1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Soy
1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Chicken Glaze
1/2 cup Orange Marmalade
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp Soy
1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 Whole Chicken, split in half
4-5 medium potatoes, quartered
Salt & Pepper to taste

Coals: 28 = 8 on bottom, 20 on top
Dutch Oven: 10”
Cook Time: 1 hour

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients for the Potato Seasoning in a large bowl and whisk well to emulsify. Set aside.

Mix all the ingredients for the Chicken Glaze together in a large bowl and set aside.

Do not peel the potatoes. Cut them into wedges by first cutting the potato in half, then cut each half in half. Place the potato wedges in the potato seasoning mixture and turn several time to coat. Then, place the wedges in the DO, skin side down (the skin is against the bottom of the DO). Salt the potatoes at this time if desired.

Season the split chicken halves with salt and pepper. You can also add a little ground sage if desired. Next, place the chicken halves skin side up on top of the potatoes (the cavity of the chicken touches the potatoes).

Prep the coals, and when ready, place 8 coals under the DO and 20 on top. Let this cook undisturbed for 30 minutes. At this time, open the DO and spoon the chicken glaze over the chicken. Return the lid to the DO and allow to cook and additional 30 minutes.

To serve, remove the chicken from the DO, and cut the leg quarter from the breast & wing (basically cut each half in half). Scoop the potatoes from the DO, and place in large bowl, re-season with salt and pepper if desired. Discard the remaining liquid in the DO. This goes great with garlic rolls, green beans, and fresh corn on the cob.

 

[keltin]

Notes on the recipe

Notes:

I only cook for two people, so I use only one half of the chicken at a time. The cooking time should be the same when using both halves of the chicken, but to be sure, use a meat thermometer at the end of cooking time. Check the thigh for a temp of 165F, then remove the DO from heat and allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. While it is cooling, the residual heat in the DO will bring the chicken to 170F as you prepare the plates.

I’ve made this twice so far, and each time I’ve experimented with the recipe. In this recipe, you use the potatoes as a trivet of sorts, and you place them skin side down in the DO. The skin keeps them from burning. The first time I tried this, I ran a 10/10 split for the coals (10 bottom and 10 top), and I added 1/4 cup of chicken broth with a splash of lemon to the DO. This was good, but the liquid more than double at the end of the cooking, so the potatoes were nearly submerged in the liquid. Further, due to the properties of a DO holding in steam and moisture, the chicken was whitish in color and basically steam roasted. Not bad, but not what I was looking for visually from this dish.

The next time I tried this (last night), I did an 8/15 split on the coals (8 bottom and 15 top), and after 35 minutes of cooking, I added an additional 8 coals to the top and 4 to the bottom for another 20 minutes of cook time. I added no liquid to the pot this time. At the end of cooking, there was some liquid in the bottom of the DO, and the Chicken had just started to brown on top. The chicken glaze had set fairly well on the chicken, but it still wasn’t as browned as I was shooting for.....a little brown, but not a lot.

So, I now suggest to start with a full 20 coals on top from the very start and 8-9 coals on the bottom. That should put a 10” DO at about 425-450 degrees with mostly top heat. This should brown the chicken nicely, and as the coals die down, the heat slowly reduces and you don’t burn the bird.

It should be noted that, even when the chicken doesn’t brown, the flavor from this is fantastic. Very moist meat, tender, and wonderful flavors. The addition of the lemon to the potatoes seasonings is nice with each bite of potato giving a faint hint of the lemon which is reminiscent of Greek style potatoes. The chicken glaze is mostly sweet with a little sour from the soy, and is very nice.

When I did this the second time, I only used 15 coals on top and then added more coals toward the end to brown and set the sauce. Since I only ran the extra coals about 20 minutes, I had left over coals that I placed into a small Weber (a Smokey Joe). I banked the coals to the side, and used the remaining heat from the coals to warm and brown the rolls that we had with this, and that worked fantastically.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

This really does sound excellent Keltin. I'm still not doing the DO yet, but that orange glaze would work on an oven roasted chicken, right? Would I put the glaze on when I start roasting or later in the cooking cycle, like when grilling?

 

[keltin]

Sure, this would work in the oven. You’d just follow this recipe with a 400 degree oven and with an covered baking dish. The glaze goes on during the last 20 – 25 minutes of cooking so that it will set, and during this last bit of cooking, it should be done uncovered. If you wanted the sauce more tangy, take out the orange juice and add Russian Dressing instead!

 

[Fisher's Mom]

If you wanted the sauce more tangy, take out the orange juice and add Russian Dressing instead!

Oh no, it's the orange glaze that makes me want to try this! I don't really care for chicken in fact. Thanks Keltin, I'll be making it this week for sure.