Citrus Italian Tango Chicken - KABOOM

I recently submitted this to a food competition. No response yet...still trying to figure out why. After my full day of work I felt it was the right thing to make. :) 

Recipe Title:   Citrus Italian Tango Chicken

Recipe Description:  Roasted Mediterranean Chicken with Grapefruit, Orange and Roasted Vegetables

What key step of the process makes your dish so unique and successful? Rubbing the chicken with a fresh grapefruit before adding seasonings and olive oil. Also, basting the chicken every 20-30 minutes after taking off the tin foil.

Servings:  4-6

Yield:  1 chicken with vegetables

Prep Time:  30 minutes

Cook Time:  4-6 hours

Ingredients: 

1 Roaster Chicken

1 large yellow onion

1 grapefruit

1 orange

thyme

rosemary

basil

oregano

red pepper flakes

olive oil

sea salt

pepper

garlic powder

paprika

2 bell peppers (red, orange or green)

Portobello mushrooms (a few caps or a package of sliced caps)

½ bag of baby carrots

1 cup of white wine (any flavor)

½ stick of salted butter

4-5 full cloves of garlic

Directions:

Vegetables Prep: Cut the onions in large slices and place directly on the bottom of the roasting pan. Cut peppers however you would like. Slice the portobellos in long slices if you did not buy them pre-sliced.  Add a few cloves of fresh garlic, smashed to release the oils and flavors – place around the edges of the roasting pan with the vegetables. Add baby carrots.  Place ½ stick of butter sliced into about 6 squares and arrange along the veggies equally.  Add ½ cup of white wine to the bottom of the pan.

Preparing the chicken: Remove chicken from package and clean/wash in the sink with water. Remove innards from the chicken (bag of giblets, etc). Trim any excess skin around either end of the chicken. When water runs through the chicken clear, take a few cloves of garlic and stuff them under the skin over the breasts, thigh joints and wing joints. Then slice grapefruit in half and squeeze juices all over the chicken. Then rub the chicken with the other half of the grapefruit all over all sides of the chicken. Slice an orange in half and place inside the chicken – do not squeeze any juices from the orange (this will help keep the chicken juicy and moist). Place chicken in roasting rack over the vegetables (if you do not have a roasting rack you can place directly on the vegetables). Douse chicken with olive oil or grapeseed oil (which ever you prefer, both are delicious). Add seasonings to the chicken to your own satisfaction (remember that when basting and cooking some of the herbs/spices will move from the chicken with the basting and go to the vegetables, and this is a good thing).  Cover chicken (not entire pan) with tin foil.

Cooking the Chicken with vegetables: Set oven to 150 degrees and let slow roast at this low heat for 2-3 hours. Remove tin foil and turn oven up to 350 degrees. For the next 2 hours baste the chicken with the juices from the bottom of the pan every 20-30 minutes. This will let the skin get crispy and allow the chicken to stay juicy. When chicken is done, let it sit for 20 minutes before cutting into it.  Enjoy

Optional Side Dish: Roasted fingerling potatoes. Take a bag of golden fingerling potatoes and poke a few holes in all of them with a fork. Add to cookie sheet or baking pan.  Drizzle some olive oil all over the potatoes and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Roast with the chicken for about 45min to an hour. After this time, take the potatoes out and smash them or press them with another pan. Flip them over and place back in the over for 15-20 min. Flip again and cook another 15-20 minutes. If you like them crispier, flip again and give them another 10 minutes. Remove and serve with roasted chicken. 

By the way, I altered this a little bit this time. Instead of the orange and the grapefruit, I used a lemon and stuffed the inside with fresh basil leaves from my new basil plant. It smells amazing in here! I also made the fingerling potatoes and they are AWESOME :)