Royal Engagement Chicken Recipe
The easiest and juiciest Roast Chicken ever…..the Royal Engagement Chicken recipe is as simple and fool-proof as it gets. Crispy and golden, this tender chicken is flavored with fresh herbs, lemon and garlic then the pan juices are made into a savory sauce that will definitely have any guy getting down on one knee.
Who else is excited that we’re getting ANOTHER royal wedding? I mean, really…with all the poo that’s going on in the world right now a royal wedding is just the distraction we all need to let us forget the dizzying activities that are happening on the news. I’m sooooo excited, you’d think I just received a personal invitation from the queen to the event. But I didn’t….even though I’m of British decent. 🙂 BUT, I am really looking forward to following along because I find the whole royal family very fascinating and the fact that the US will now have their very own American princess is totally over the top, too. And I’ve been watching the coverage of the Royal engagement very closely because….well, it has nothing to do with politics or scandal. Did you know that Prince Harry proposed while they were “trying” to roast a chicken? How common of him. 🙂
Word on the street is they were making Ina Garten’s Roast Chicken recipe…..which could be one of many, actually. But I’m thinking it was probably the world famous Engagement Chicken (Which I’m now calling the Royal Engagement Chicken recipe) that she duplicated from the one that was originally published in a 2004 issue of Glamour magazine. The story is that in 1982 a fashion editor gave her assistant the recipe to the best chicken ever which the assistant, THEN cooked for her current boyfriend, who, a month later proposed to said assistant. THEN, the recipe was passed on to three more coworkers who went home and made the chicken for their current partner……and ALSO got engaged. It’s science people. And Meghan Markle knew what she was doing when she picked up that chicken at the market earlier that day. She’s a smart girl. So, REALLY….she didn’t make Ina’s recipe…she made the magic Glamour magazine recipe which Ina scraped from the mag and made herself. (She did credit the magazine, though.) And now I wonder how many times Ina made this recipe for Jeffrey whenever she needed something….like a new little market in the Hamptons or that fabulous barn she has behind her Hamptons home. (I kid…but really…how many times did she make this?!?!)
Anyway….I have also made the chicken recipe over the years but skipping that one step of flipping the bird over after roasting for 15 minutes. I’ve had bad luck doing that and decided that I can get the same results if I roast the Royal Engagement Chicken recipe in a shallow dutch oven like my favorite Le Creuset Round Wide Dutch Oven. It’s deep enough to contain all the fun stuff that you’ll need to make the pan sauce but shallow enough that the whole bird will still get that golden, crispy skin all over without drying out.
This Royal Engagement Chicken recipe is so simple to make, too. You just prep your chicken by removing the giblets and replacing them with fresh lemon, herbs and garlic. Tie the legs together then place in your roasting pan or dutch oven. Surround the chicken with thickly sliced onion, lemon and more garlic then drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper then roast away. Once your chicken is done (usually about an hour or so), remove it and allow it to rest while you work on the pan sauce by simply deglazing with white wine…..stirring in some chicken stock, a little butter and seasoning with salt, to taste.
How easy is that?!?!? And it’s very similar to my favorite Simple Roast Chicken except that I took those pan juices and put them to good use. Ala, Ina. Because she made a very similar recipe, too, but called it Jeffrey’s Roast Chicken. Now…a little tip…since you’re adding the lemons, skin and all, don’t think more is better here. The temptation to add more lemons is there but don’t give in because extra lemons means, extra skin….and have you ever eaten just the skin of the lemon? It’s bitter….so more pithy, bitterness will be added to your sauce. I did it for you so you don’t need to make the same mistake. Serve this chicken up with a side of this Potatoes Au Gratin and some green beans…..and you’ll be sporting a sparkly rock in no time.
AND just when you thought things couldn’t get any better in the world….I give to you the opportunity to own your very own Le Creuset Round Wide Dutch Oven. This thing is simply spectacular in ever sense of the word. It’s great for roasting things, sure, but it’s fantastic for baking a loaf of bread or making a stew or BRAISING THIS GARLIC CHICKEN! (You have to try that one, too…it’s how I convinced my husband that Louis Vuitton is art and I needed to own some art.). But the Le Creuset Dutch Oven in Marine is also a work of art and it looks stunning on the kitchen table when serving a meal family style.
The iconic Le Creuset Dutch oven is indispensable in the kitchens of home cooks and professional chefs alike. Long recognized for its strength and durability, cast iron is the prime material for slow-cooking, braising and roasting, thanks to its ability to maintain even and consistent heat. The wide and shallow shape of this oven allows for effectively searing and browning meats before slowly cooking to perfection. A greater surface area is ideal for reducing sauces and evaporating excess liquid.
Le Creuset produced the first enameled cast iron cookware nearly a century ago, and the original foundry still operates today, where 15 skilled artisans hand-inspect each piece. It’s a piece of history….if you ask me and I bet the newly engaged royal couple roasted their very own Royal Engagement Chicken recipe in their very own Le Creuset Dutch Oven. Don’t you? To win your own, simply enter using the entry form below. And I’ll see you all in London in the spring. 🙂
Get the Recipe: Royal Engagement Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 4-5 pound roasting chicken, giblets removed and patted dry
- kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 lemons cut into quarters
- 2 whole heads of garlic, cut in half
- 2 spanish onions, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch, or flour
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Season the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper. Place half a lemon and half a head of garlic inside the chicken with a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary. Reserve the remaining lemon, garlic and herbs for later.
- Brush the entire surface of the chicken with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
- Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wings under the body.
- Place the chicken in the roasting pan breast side up.
- Place the remaining lemon, herbs and garlic in a large bowl with the onion. Toss to coat with the remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Arrange the onions and lemon around the chicken in the roasting pan.
- Roast the chicken for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
- Place the pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the wine to the pan and deglaze by using a wooden spoon to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the sauce and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the stock to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens. Stir in the butter and any juices that collected on the serving platter.
- Carve the chicken and serve with the lemons, onions and pan sauce.
5 Comments on “Royal Engagement Chicken Recipe”
I don’t have Facebook either .
You don’t say what exactly to do with the 2nd garlic. Whole, peeled?
Why do the legs have to be tied. I’m 80 years old, roasted plenty of chickens but have never tied the legs.
Should the chicken be covered when in the oven?
No, I don’t cover the chicken. But if it seems to be getting too dark before it’s finished roasting you can cover it with a piece of foil (lightly, no need to press it down and risk burning yourself) to keep it from browning further.
I’m sad that you can only enter to win the Dutch oven if you have Instagram!
I’m so sorry….I’ll have more contests in the future that will not have that requirement.