Honeyed Citrus Chicken

I made this last night and it was outstanding! I originally tried the recipe b/c I only had an hour to cook a whole chicken, and since the recipe calls for the whole chicken to be pressed flat, it cooks in under an hour. Don’t forgo the sauce! It really made the chicken into a gourmet meal! I used olives stuffed with almonds since it did not specify what kind of stuffed olives. I found the recipe in Tom Bridge’s What’s Cooking – Chicken cookbook. Serve with salad greens and new potatoes for a great meal. You can use fat-free ingredients as well for a fat-free recipe according to the author. Also the recipe calls for it to marinate for 4 hours and I marinated it overnight…..

• Ready In: 1 hr 7 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 (4 1/2lb)  whole chickens

• MARINADE

• 1 1⁄4 cups  orange juice
• 3  tablespoons cider vinegar
• 3  tablespoons honey
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh tarragon (or Dried)
• 2  oranges, Cut into Wedges

• SAUCE

• 1  tablespoon fresh tarragon (or Dried)
• 1  cup ricotta cheese (or Fat Free Ricotta or Strained Plain Yogurt)
• 2  tablespoons  orange juice
• 1  teaspoon honey
• 1⁄2 cup  stuffed olives, Chopped

Directions

1. Put chicken on cutting board with breast downward and cut through the bottom part of the chicken with shears or scissors, making sure not to cut right through to the breast bone below.
2. Rinse the chicken with cold water, drain, and place on a board with skin side uppermost.
3. Press the chicken flat – You can thread two long wooden skewers through the bird if it won’t stay flat.
4. Put all the marinade ingredients, except the oranges, in a heavy-duty plastic zip lock or non-metallic container and chill for 4 or more hours – Turning Occasionally.
5. To make the sauce, mix all the ingredients and spoon into a serving dish, cover and chill.
6. Transfer the chicken and marinade to a roasting pan, open out the chicken and place skin side downward.
7. Tuck the orange wedges around the chicken and roast in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
8. Turn the chicken over and roast for another 20 to 30 minutes.