Roast Chicken With Caramelized Shallots

With simple recipes like this, there really is no excuse for not cooking dinner at home. Except for the shallots, which you can pick up when you buy the chicken, you should have most of these ingredients in your pantry.  Shallots give any dish a wonderful taste and they have the added advantage of lasting quite a while if you keep them in the refrigerator.

I use a whole chicken cut into eight pieces; two legs, two thighs, and I cut each breast piece in half, crosswise, keeping the wings attached. You could also just use eight of your favorite chicken pieces.


If you are coming up to the lake for the weekend, , this is a great recipe to make on Friday night.

   

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

4 large shallots, peeled and minced

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

One whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

one generous handful of coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley


Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC).

2. In a large baking dish, one which will hold all the chicken pieces in a single layer, mix the olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, shallots, and some salt and pepper.

3. Toss the chicken in the mixture, so they're completely coated with the shallots. Turn the chicken pieces so they are all skin side up.

4. Roast the chicken for about twenty minutes, until it starts to brown on top. Turn the pieces of chicken over. Scrape any juices and shallots over the chicken that may be clinging to the pan, and bake for another twenty minutes, or until the pieces of chicken are cooked through and the shallots are well-caramelized.

5. Remove from oven and toss in the chopped parsley, then serve.

Adapted from French Farmhouse Cookbook (Workman) by Susan Herrmann Loomis and David Leibowitz