Roast Ginger Chicken with Potatoes and Onions

This is tonight's supper. It's from the Farmhouse Cookbook. This one came from a Pennsylvania Dutch farm. This cookbook suggests wines that you can have with each meal. The name of this one is so funny that I'm going to tell you what it is, even though I do not necessarily suggest it to you. "Try a full-bodied Alsatian Gewurztraminer, such as Zind-Humbrecht 1987, with this chicken." Just for fun, I googled that wine, and found out that to have 1 bottle of it, made in France, shipped to Miami, and then to me, would be about $40 for one bottle, or $352 for a case of 12. Not as expensive as I thought, but still waaaaay more expensive than water or chocolate milk. Plus I would rather have Diet Pepsi ha ha. But anyway back to the matter at hand. This recipe sounded easy enough, and I liked that it had the potatoes right in the pan with it, so here we go.

Roast Ginger Chicken with Potatoes and Onions
1 chicken (3 to 4 pounds) with giblets (I don't believe in giblets...I buy chickens without them on purpose)
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger or 1 tsp dried
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, each potato cut into 8 wedges
6 large pearl onions, peeled
3 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 400. Rinse the chicken well inside and out until the water runs clear (put gloves on first, yuck). Pat it thoroughly dry. Sprinkle with cavity with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, ginger, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Carefully separate the skin from the breast meat and legs of the chicken by running your [gloved] fingers between the skin and the meat. Using a paper towel, gently pat the meat dry. Spread the butter mixture under the skin of the breast and the legs. Place the chicken in a roasting pan, and roast for 15 minutes. Turn the chicken on its side, basting it if there are any juices, and roast for 10 minutes. Turn it on its other side, baste it, and roast for an additional 10 minutes.

Arrange the potatoes and the onions around the chicken, turning them as best you can so they are covered with cooking juices. Roast the chicken, breast side up, for an additional 20 minutes, until it is golden, the legs move freely in their sockets [gross], and the juices run clear when you hold the chicken up to drain (how will I do that?? It is hot. If I pick it up with a potholder, the potholder will get gross. If I pick it up with gloved hands, the plastic gloves may melt. Just use a meat thermometer. You want it to be at that safe minimum temperature anyway; let's not fool around with food safety. Especially if you've seen Food Inc, you really want to make sure you are killing all that potentially bad stuff...)(If you haven't seen Food Inc, they have it on Netflix Watch Instantly. Very enlightening and I recommend it. Plan to not eat while you watch it, and possibly for several hours/days after, ha ha).

Transfer chicken to a warmed platter and let it sit for 15 minutes, propped up slightly at the neck end to allow the juices to retreat back into the meat. Add the giblets to the pan [or don't] and stir so they are coated with cooking juices. Continue roasting the vegetables, basting and turning them frequently, until the potatoes are golden and crisp and the giblets are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Transfer vegetables to the platter holding the chicken. Drain all but about 3 tbsp of the fat from the roasting pan. Add the water, and place it over medium-high heat. Stir the liquid, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking until the sauce has reduced and thickened somewhat, 1-2 minutes. Season to taste, and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Serve immediately. 4 to 6 servings.

This came out very very good. The only issue I had was that there was no juice left at the end to make "gravy," maybe because I didn't use the giblets. But even without it, the chicken was moist, the potatoes were fabulous. I wish I had added carrots in with it, next time I think I will. Definitely a yummy keeper!!