Honey, Ginger & Garlic Roasted Chicken

This past weekend I got my act together and managed to roast a chicken early in the morning, photograph it, refrigerate it and then serve steak for dinner.  My mission was to be able to share this recipe with you but I wanted a photograph.  Here are the reasons I worked it out this way.  #1, my adoring husband doesn’t want to wait while I photograph our dinner, most of you can relate to this phenomenon of being a food blogger, and #2, it gets dark way too early to photograph dinner in January. I felt completely accomplished.  A beautiful, juicy, roasted chicken stored for another night’s meal, a photo to accompany my post and we still had some serious steaks for dinner.

This recipe is the perfect way to discover how honey can be incorporated into foods that are not dessert.  The health benefits of honey are numerable.  Here’s one you may find useful during the winter months, Spicy Honey Cider Syrup.  Soothing and healing with no restrictions on how often you can down a spoonful.  

Back to the chicken, moist and flavorful with bites of aromatic ginger and pungent garlic sprinkled with orange zest and of course a slight sweetness from the honey.  As I worked on this recipe my mind kept drifting to sesame oil and soy sauce which seemed a natural addition to the flavors I was using.  Don’t get me wrong I love “Asian” foods and flavors, still I wanted the challenge of not going that route which is ever so predictable.  I am quite happy with the roasted chicken which turned out juicy, tender and delicious.

Next up is my balsamic, honey reduction with a surprise ingredient drizzled over roasted beets.  Trust me you won’t want to miss this recipe!

Enjoy!

HONEY, GINGER & GARLIC ROASTED CHICKEN

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, sliced thinly
Zest of 1 orange, orange wedges
3 tablespoons peeled ginger, minced
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons avocado oil
Juice of 1 orange
5 tablespoons raw honey
1 roasting chicken, 3-5 pounds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*F.  Zest the orange into a small bowl, add minced ginger and garlic.  To this mixture add salt and pepper to taste.  Rub this mixture thoroughly in the cavity and rub any extra on the outside of the bird.  Place the orange quarters inside the cavity.  Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan.  Using the same bowl combine avocado oil, orange juice, and honey.  Mix well. ( if the honey is very thick; about 10 seconds in the microwave will liquidize it a bit for easier mixing).

Baste the chicken with the honey mixture then place the chicken in the oven and roast, basting with honey mixture about 4 times during roasting.  Roast until the juices run clear when pierced with a knife, about an hour.

Transfer to a serving dish and let rest for 10-15 minutes.  Garnish with orange sections.