Roast Chicken with Caramelized Shallots

By CheeseDiva

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 4 large shallots, peeled and minced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• One whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• one generous handful of coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from davidlebovitz.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC).

2. In a large baking dish, one which will hold all the chicken pieces in a single layer, mix the olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, shallots, and some salt and pepper.

3. Toss the chicken in the mixture, so they’re completely coated with the shallots. Turn the chicken pieces so they are all skin side up.

I made this today and this was pretty good! I added a bit of maple syrup, however, and clearly that was a mistake – talk about not wanting to clean. Some irony here. I am chiseling burned shallots off right now! But I loved the sweet touch and the simplicity of preparation. I did decide that mincing the shallots was not a great idea – next time I’ll chop them coarsely, then they will not burn so much. My home-grown chickens need a much longer time to cook than 40 min (mine took at least an hour and fifteen minutes), so that didn’t help the shallots not to burn. But it’s March in Wisconsin and the sap is running – which means that maple syrup goes on everything. My husband liked this and I am happy to have this added to my repertoire. It was even good with a skinnier 4.5 lb chicken (by our farm standards this is by far too small). Normally, the sad said bird needs some sort of a moist heat method.

By way of cultural exchange, the two chicken recipes that I make all the time and that are superb, are:

2)Kate Hundt the farmwife from a great megalopolis Middle Ridge, Wisconsin made this great chicken I now make:

Chicken is cut into pieces (back too), drenched in flour, browned in oil while sprinkling with seasoning salt, then placed in a dutch oven or some covered vessel and then baked at 350 for 2 hrs. The gravy is then made with the drippings, flour, water from the boiled potatoes (that are to be mashed), and cream/half’n'half/milk. Everyone’s favorite. Needs a good fat chicken though as well. Life is all about good fat chickens.

I love shallots. I will definitely make this dish. Yum.

. Add a big fat chunk of chewy paesano loaf for sopping and a glass (or three) of red wine, and you’ve got one spectacular and spectacularly relaxed supper. Thanks!

What a perfect timing! as I was just looking for a quick main course for Passover Seder next week. To make sure that I’m not risking my reputation, I made it for lunch today and it turned out to be a hit. Given the soy sauce that goes into the dish I should have been more carfuel with the salt. Will fix it next time. BTW,the somewhat salty juices went prefect with potato puree.

I don’t see any advantage in cooking this on the stove top when using tenders and I see a few disadvantages. I would stir them more which might interfere with the caramelization, and if you had the burner on too high, then the liquid would be driven off before the chicken is fully cooked. It also looses its charm as a no fuss, one dish meal because I don’t serve in stove top pans, but I do in my nice baking dishes.

Anyway, it was an amazing dish (I used tarragon vinegar) and you’re right, I will definitely make sure these ingredients are always on hand.

Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful! As a working mom with two young kids, I am always looking for delicious meals that require little hands on time! This one was spectacularly delicous and a hit with the whole family. It has earned a spot in my regular rotation and I am recommending it to family and friends. Thank you for such a wonderful addition to our repertoire!!!

When I make it back to Paris some day, may I come test recipes with you? I’m a great dishwasher.

Oh my! As soon as I saw the picture, I HAD to have this for dinner. I live alone, so I rarely buy a whole chicken, and as I prefer the thigh & leg meat anyway, this was perfect for the tasty free-range marylands I had in my fridge. So simple. so good. Two thighs, two legs, two meals. This is now my go-to chicken dinner. Merci beaucoup David! Also a great big merci for all the handy info on your blog which helped make my month in Paris last year extra delicious!

I’ve tried this three times already. The first time with a whole chicken cut in half. The second and third times using a whole chicken cut into 8 pieces. Yesterday, I added a couple of white mushrooms to the marinade and pureed them using an immersion blender before adding the shallots. I also used tamari instead of shoyu as I’ve done the previous two times. A combination of the tamari and the mushroom definitely added more umami to the chicken.

I’m also starting to make my way through your new book. Racine’s cake (we’re calling it Nibby Cake) was divine.

I like my skin well browned so I turned the meat skin side up for an additional 10 or 15 minutes — looked great, tasted delicious.

I’ve made this 4 times, and think it’s the easiest, tastiest chicken recipe. The last two times I made it with boneless skinless chicken breasts and tenders. I much prefer it on the bone, but my family really only likes white meat. When making it that way, I can do it in a heavy cast iron skillet on the stove top. I start caramelizing the shallots before adding the chicken pieces (cut thin and pounded a bit). It’s pretty good, especially for chicken breast. The family loves it. This is really one great recipe, or technique, that I am so grateful for. Thanks!

This recipe was everything I hoped for and more :) I ended up using sherry wine vinegar and hitting the pan with a bit of extra tamari (looked a bit dry when I turned the chicken) and it was absolutely perfect. It’s funny: Growing up my mom always made roasted chicken thighs doused in soy sauce and sliced onions, so this recipe seemed very familiar yet somehow a little more grown up. I’ve forwarded the recipe on to Mom so she can try it. The addition of the vinegar just makes this dish sing. You rock, David!

Tonight I made it again and decided to add a pinch of brown sugar to the soy sauce, vinegar & oil. Well……..you know……..with the sweetness added in…….it’s awfully good with brown sugar too. Totally naughty (brown sugar) and yummy!

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