Inspired by the inimitable Diana Henry from her book, A Bird in the Hand, this has all the flavours of a favourite cocktail mine, hence the name. An across the board crowd pleaser for everyone (even with the bourbon), the chicken can get away with only minimal marinade time, a blast in the oven and just like that you have an oven to table flavour packed, colour filled dish requiring only the simplest of sides to make a memorable feast.
It’s an incredibly forgiving and adaptable recipe, great on either a whole spatchcocked chicken, a tray of thighs (my personal favourite, especially for a crowd), a couple of poussins if you are feeling fancy and I have even used in on a turkey breast for Thanksgiving.
And as a bonus, it’s simple to scale up for a larger crowd. Welcome to your new favourite party dish.
Old Fashioned Chicken
4-6
servings10
minutes1
hourWelcome to your simple, flavour packed, oven to table friendly party dish to share with a crowd from a few to as many as your table can seat.
Ingredients
10 chicken thighs, with skin and pin bone
200g orange marmalade (I like thick cut as the “bits” add to the sauce)
50g Dijon mustard
80ml bourbon
1 tsp Malden salt
1 head of garlic, cut in half through the middle
2 medium red onions, cut into quarters (or eigths if they are large)
1 red chilli, in half through the centre
1 large cinnamon stick (or 2 shorter ones)
2 star anise
2 bay leaves
1 large orange (preferably organic) cut into slices
1 tbsp olive oil
Directions
- In a bowl, combine 150g marmalade, 30g mustard, all the bourbon & olive oil and season well with salt. Reserve the remaining marmalade and mustard in a separate bowl and set aside for later to baste the chicken while cooking.
- Add the chicken and all the remaining ingredients to the bowl of marinade and mix everything together until fully coated for at least an hour (while the chicken comes up to room temperature) or upto overnight.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge an hour before you are ready to cook, if it is not already marinading. Preheat your oven to 200C (fan).
- Pour the chicken pieces and all the marinade and aromatics into a roasting tray, preferably oven to table friendly, where they can fit comfortably in one layer. Drizzle with a little olive oil and a final sprinkle of salt. Roast for 1 hour, basting every 20 minutes or so.
- In the last 10 minutes of cooking, mix together the reserved marmalade and mustard and spread over the top of the chicken pieces or whole chicken. This gives it an extra delicious crispy sticky skin without burning.
Notes
- The marinade here is generous. If you are doubling the recipe only make 1.5 times the amount – there will still be plenty.
Have you made this dish?
Let me know what you think, share your efforts and any tweaks you made to the recipe on Instagram, don’t forget to tag #BuildingFeasts or email me on info@buildingfeasts.com
