bacon & maple roasted chicken

 

can you tell what is different about today's photography?! hint: THE KITCHEN. yes! this was my first shoot in my brand new kitchen & what a better way to break it in than creating a chicken recipe from eva kosmas flores' new cookbook adventures in chicken which is released in stores TODAY! she is the amazing author & photographer behind one of my favourite food blogs adventures in cooking. everything she makes is a perfect mix of elegant & rustic. to anyone who knows me personally, they know i am obsessed with chicken. i eat it literally every single day (seriously though, every single day) so i am quite excited to have 150 recipes dedicated to my favourite food.

this roasted bacon & maple chicken stood out to me most because it has all the flavours i love. i wish you could smell how good the kitchen smelled when it was in the oven roasting. they should make a bacon maple rosemary chicken candle scent:) i used this beautiful copper & gold handled roasting pan from mauviel usa which i filled with potatoes tossed in olive oil & garlic. all those sweet drippings from the chicken made for the best flavoured potatoes. i will be sharing the recipe for these maple potatoes on my NOM channel next week too because they were that good! back to painting i go for now... i have two more rooms & the hallway left before the wallpaper gets hung! you will see more of the kitchen very very soon. xo

ingredients

for the maple marinade and chicken

  • 1/4 cup chicken stock
  • 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), innards removed

for the roast chicken

  • 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons pure maple sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 teapoons dried rosemary
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • 4 strips thick cut bacon
  • 1 large sweet onion, diced
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups chicken stock (more or less depending on roasting pan)
  • 10 large springs of fresh rosemary

directions

for the maple marinade and chicken

  • in a large bowl whisk together the chicken stock, maple syrup, vinegar, salt & thyme.
  • add the whole chicken in a large zip lock bag & coat with marinade.
  • let sit in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

for the roast chicken

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • remove chicken from marinade bag & place in desired roasting pan.
  • in a small bowl mix together the dry rub of maple sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, dried rosemary, & black pepper. spread generously over the chicken.
  • in a separate small mixing bowl add the maple syrup, 3/4 teaspoon salt, diced bacon, sweet onion & olive oil. toss over the chicken & into the roasting pan.
  • with the two left over strips of bacon, stuff them under the skin of the breast.
  • place rosemary in the bird cavity & arrange some in the roasting pan.
  • fill the roasting pan two inches high with the chicken stock.
  • tent tightly with foil & bake for 1 hour.
  • remove foil & cook for an additional 15-30 minutes.

for 150 more amazing chicken recipes, check out eva kosmas flores (of the blog adventures in cooking) first cookbook adventures in chicken which is released today! you can order it on amazon here