Molasses Five Spice Roast Chicken

Submitted by Pumpkie

"I had ordered chinese five-spice powder from Penzey's a while ago and was waiting for a recipe to try and just found this in Good Housekeeping. It was incredible. The flavor is outstanding. In response to one of my reviews I did not have a problem with my potatoes cooking I did cut them into quarters small enough to cook but not so small they disengrate."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
• 3 medium sweet potatoes, cut into quarters (about 8 ounces each)
• 2 tablespoons dark molasses
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• fresh chives (to garnish)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Remove gilbets and neck from chicken.
3. Rinse chicken with cold water and drain well; pat dry with paper towels.
4. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of five-spice powder inside cavity.
5. With chicken breast side up, tuck wing tips under back of chicken.
6. With string, tie legs together.
7. Line medium roasting pan with foil.
8. Place chicken, breast side up, on a small rack in center of foil lined pan.
9. Wash and dry potatoes and pierce with fork, cut into quarters small enough to cook not so small they turn to mush.
10. Place potatoes around chicken in pan.
11. You can also peel potatoes and cut them up instead of leaving them whole to bake if you prefer.
12. In cup combine molasses, ketchup, honey, soy sauce, salt and remaining five spice powder.
13. Brush half of molasses glaze all over chicken.
14. Cover pan with loose tent of foil.
15. Roast chicken for 30 minutes.
16. Remove foil and brush remaining glaze over chicken.
17. Roast another 30 minutes longer or until temperature on meat themometer reaches 175 to 180 and juices run clear when thickest part of thigh is pierced with knife Transfer potatoes to cutting board; keep warm.
18. With tongs, tilt chicken to allow juices from cavity to run into roasting pan.
19. Place chicken on platter; let chicken stand 10 minutes before carving.
20. Slice potatoes into 3/4 slices (if you left them whole to bake); arrange on platter with chicken.
21. Garnish with chives.
22. Skim and discard fat from drippings in pan.
23. Serve pan drippings with chicken and potatoes.

Reviews

[Geema]

Sadly, I did not have good success with this recipe despite my high expectations. I followed the recipe exactly, wondering how the chicken would turn out cooked at such high heat for the entire time. I peeled and cut up my sweet potatoes and placed them around the chicken in the pan. Surprisingly, neither the chicken nor the sweet potatoes were done after more than one hour, but they were black from being charred by the sugary basting sauce. I finally turned down the heat, but the chicken and the potatoes were very dark and unappealing. Taking the skin off the chicken certainly helped, but the flavor of the sauce was not particularly distinct or even tasty. Both my DH and I ate our dinner, but were disappointed with the results. Maybe I did something wrong and this recipe can be redeemed by someone else.

 

[mariposa13]

I also found this recipe from Good Housekeeping. I made a copy of it and took it home. A few weeks later I came across the recipe again and since I had most of the ingredients at home, I decided to try it out. Boy was I glad I did! This chicken is AWESOME! And it smells great while its cooking - the whole house smells yummy. Try it - you'll really like this one!