I've been doing a lot of cooking this week, and it's been really nice. When my marriage ended a year ago, I was suddenly thrown back into cooking by myself again, and at first I was lost at sea. I had forgotten everything I'd known -- the touch and the feel of cooking -- that I'd had ten years earlier when I was single.
I was worried I wouldn't be any good, that I'd not cook as well as my wife had, and, while I'm sure I have a lot to learn, I've been having fun and pleasantly surprised with how my results keep getting better. Viking Chicken is one of them, and I cooked it the other night for my mother, brother and daughter, and they all asked for more, so I think it's worth passing on, even though my pictures are NOT SO GREAT.
The basic idea behind Viking Chicken is that you are cooking the really nice chicken on top of a bed of fruit (sweet) and vegetables (savory). The sweet and savory combo, mixed with chicken fat, butter and salt, is killer. And you don't need to be too picky about what the veggies are. You can clean out the refrigerator with what you've got if you like. That's why I call it "Viking," because it's sort of low brow and hard to mess up.
Sweet & Savory Viking Chicken
Serves 63 to 4-pound whole chicken
1 small lemon or clementine
Several sprigs fresh rosemary
1 to 2 large yellow onions
3 to 4 whole firm fruits such as apples, pears, or quince
1 to 2 pounds firm or crisp vegetables such as carrots, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, or garlic cloves
Olive oil
Unsalted butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oven to 450°F. Set a rack in the lower-middle of the oven.
Remove the chicken from its packaging and thoroughly pat it dry. Place the lemon or clementine inside the cavity along with the whole rosemary sprigs, and truss the legs together.
Create a bed of fruits and vegetables in a roasting pan to raise the chicken off the bottom. Chop the onions and a few pieces of fruit into rings, and scatter them over the bottom of the pan. If you're using asparagus or carrots, lay them side-by-side on top of the onions in the center of the pan. Sprinkle the vegetables and fruit generously with salt and black pepper.
Set the chicken on top of the bed of fruits and vegetables. Roughly chop and scatter any remaining fruits and vegetables around the chicken.
Drizzle the chicken and all the fruits and vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle generously with sea salt. Set a few pats of butter atop the chicken.
Place the chicken into the oven and immediately lower the oven temperature to 400°F. Roast for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the vegetables are cooked, chicken's skin is golden, and the chicken registers 165°F in the thigh.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and tent with foil. Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving. While you're waiting, toss the vegetables with the pan juices and transfer to a serving bowl. If desired, make a simple gravy with the leftover bits in the pan.
Serve while the chicken and vegetables are warm. Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to 4 days.
Related: How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock
(Images: Maxwell Ryan; Faith Durand)
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My boyfriend and I made pretty much this same chicken yesterday, only without having seen your post beforehand. We only cooked it with potatoes in the pan and they were delicious. I love your idea of using various fruits and veggies- wish we thought of that!
For anyone making a chicken like this, rubbing it down with fresh herbs like thyme, sage, and rosemary mixed with some canola or olive oil makes for some tasty seasoning.
Oh this is always one of my favorite things - you're right, the chicken fat, salt, and herbs make for a fantastic seasoning on the veg. It's always satisfying and one of the easiest things to make!
This looks so delicious. I am so making this "kitchen sink" chicken this weekend.
Mmmmm, Grussels sprouts.
this looks delicious! but doesn't the lemon need to be halved before being inserted into the chicken?
Grussels sprouts are one of my favorite ingredients.
I would make this but probably not put in the asparagus. I find it gets gross if they cook too long.
As a person with Viking ancestors, I take offense at being referred to as "lowbrow!" Lol. But no, seriously.... Vikings were pretty advanced on some things compared to Europeans at the time. Like bathing. And boat building technology. Just sayin'....
sound like a great recipe and good idea to use up all the bits of left over veggies at the end of the week adjust it to what ever you have on hand.. thanks for an idea
Whenever I roast a chicken at this kind of heat, I get beautiful skin but terrible splatter--last time, it splattered all over the upper heating element and the broiler gave off a rank smell of burning chicken fat for weeks. Do you have a similar issue? Is there any way to prevent it? Thanks!
sweetpea--
Are you using a rack in a pan when you cook your chicken? most of the splatter comes from the fat in the pan. What I do (which might not work with this recipe) is this: I put a rack in the pan and then top that with tinfoil (I use a small rack in a 9x13 Pyrex lasagne dish). The foil should extend to the edges of the dish. Then I poke holes in it along the lines of the rack--2" holes here and there. This way the fat drips down and the foil prevents splatter. With this recipe, the veg might not get as roasty as some would like, though.
So are you tenting the chicken, essentially? that'd do it.
The temperatures here seem really high for chicken. Joy of Cooking recommends preheating the oven at 400F and roasting the chicken at 350F (20 minutes roasting time per pound) which has always resulted in a moist bird for me.
wow, that looks great! inspired to cook tonight; thanks. love the marimekko bowl too.
That looks pretty tasty, if not entirely healthy. I think I read somewhere that if you want to get the most out of the citrus stuffed in the bird, it's better to heat the lemon and cut it in half before putting it in the bird. Microwave is easiest; 15-30 seconds.
Great recipe and very good pictures. They are very helpful.
A version of this is a faorite with the roomie, whose mother roasts a chicken he calls "Chicken with a Lemon Up Its Butt." It is way up at the top of the meal request list. I'm crazy about the pan roasted vegetables.
This also supplies the very best of dinner party appetizers: the aroma of roasting.
I couldn't wait for the weekend and made this chicken already. The combined flavors of the vegetables, fruits and chicken are out of this world. Stellar dish. Thanks for posting the recipe, iMaxwell.
I do a chicken similar to this one and at a high temperature, but I butterfly it first and smoosh it down pretty flat. This lets the heat get through it faster.
It's an America's Test Kitchen technique and they recommend lining a broiler pan bottom with foil, filling it was sliced potatoes (though now I want to try apple chips too) and putting the smooshed bird on top of the broiler grate. The fat drips down onto the potatoes and makes them completely amazing. The chicken cooks pretty fast this way and is excellent.
When I roast a turkey I recently started filling the cavity with quartered lemons and oranges, peeled and pierced whole garlic cloves, and big handfuls of whatever herbs I have growing on the patio at the time (except mint). My brother grills his Thanksgiving turkey outside and I recommended that to him this year. He liked it as much as I do.
I also butterfly the chicken by cutting out the backbone, Jacques Pepin style, and roasting atop potatoes, onions & veg at a high heat. Rubbing softened butter mixed with herbs, garlic, salt & pepper under & over the skin makes for a delicious bird!