Roast Chicken with Olive-Orange Tapenade

If you want to have a sauce to go with this chicken, then add a few tablespoons of the tapenade to the roasting juices shortly before the chicken is done. Save the carcass for chicken stock.

By | December 01, 2014

Ingredients

SERVINGS: 4 Serving(s)
  • 1 4-pound Chicken
  • ¼ cup Green Olive and Orange Tapenade (recipe below)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 orange, halved
  • 4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
  • 2 (3-inch) sprigs fresh rosemary
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • ½ cup white wine
  • ½ cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Loosen the skin over the breast of the chicken. (You can do this by easing your fingers under the skin and loosening the membrane that holds it down. Eventually you will get your whole hand under the skin, a weirdly satisfying feeling.) Press the tapenade under the skin, covering the breast meat. Rub the outside of the bird with the olive oil. Squeeze the orange juice over the bird. Place the squeezed orange inside the cavity. Insert the garlic and rosemary into the cavity as well. Season the bird with salt and pepper and truss it with kitchen twine.

Place the chicken on a rack over a roasting pan. Add the wine to the pan and roast for about 15 minutes, until the bird is golden brown all over. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. and continue roasting about 40 minutes longer, or until the juices of the chicken run clear.

Remove the chicken from the rack and let it rest on a platter for about 5 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile, defat the pan drippings if you wish (the chicken fat is greasy but totally delicious). Place the pan with the drippings on top of the stove. Add the stock and cook over medium-high heat, scraping up the browned bits in the pan. Serve the pan drippings with the chicken. 

About this recipe

Reprinted with permission from The Kitchen Ecosystem: Integrating Recipes to Make Delicious Meals (Clarkson Potter, 2014).

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Green Olive and Orange Tapenade

This tapenade is great spread on crostini as an hors d’oeuvre, smeared on broiled or grilled fish or tucked under the skin of a roast chicken. I also combine it with home-canned tuna to make a savory ...

Ingredients

SERVINGS: 4 Serving(s)
  • 1 4-pound Chicken
  • ¼ cup Green Olive and Orange Tapenade (recipe below)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 orange, halved
  • 4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
  • 2 (3-inch) sprigs fresh rosemary
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • ½ cup white wine
  • ½ cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or water