Chicken On A Cider Can Impress Your Friends

By Rachel & Ashley, the Tipsy Teachers from SchoolHouseBooze.com

Photos: Rachel & Ashley, the Tipsy Teachers from SchoolHouseBooze.com

 

One minute we were mulling wine in our mittens, and in the blink of an eye we’re onto caesars and ciders in the sunshine. Where did the time go? Along with some well deserved warmth, the summer brings about the season for picnics, long warm nights and, of course, entertaining. Any ol’ Joe with a little patch of grass to call their backyard is suddenly a revolving door of bbq’s and patio invites.

 

Far too often we find ourselves in Joe’s position. After, let’s say, dinner party number four, our Martha Stewart meets Bobby Flay attitude has deflated and we’re left wondering what the heck to serve these greedy little intruders we lovingly call our friends and family. And so begins the hunt for that show-stopping meal. Last year we thought we discovered the answer when we started grilling up bits of chicken in wine and other stuff (everyone’s hungry and there’s no time to explain so just read about here). ALL OF THAT pales in comparison to this year’s spread. Seriously people, if entertaining were a videogame we would have just leveled up, collected all the festival tokens, lured the evil hotdogs onto the grill… you get the idea.

We present to you the meal that changed our standards of flightless birds forever; Chicken On A Cider Can with roasted potatoes and apple stuffing (who says you can’t eat stuffing in the summer?!). We were inspired by the admittedly hillbilly Beer Can Chicken and decided to do a little research. Sorry to burst all those redneck bubbles out there, but the BCC is a flawed system! The only way the beer would work to infuse the chicken from the inside is if your oven was hot enough to bring the beer to a boil which would only happen if you like your chicken nicely incinerated. What the can does provide is an excellent way to do a pretty little 360º roast. So to really get our chicken nice and tipsy we marinated him in Brickworks Cider. The result was a succulent, mind-blowingly moist little fella with rich undertones of fall flavours. Undoubtedly, this Chicken On A Cider Can impress your friends! 😉

Try it yourself! We’re last minute ladies so, although this recipe is long, the entire process (minus marinating) only took 2 hours. Enough yackin’, let’s get to the recipe!

 

 

Chicken on a Cider Can

Feeds 4 (or two very hungry people!)

1 Whole Chicken (ours Was 3 lbs)

2 cans Cider (we used Brickworks Ciderhouse Batch 1904)

3 Oranges (peels Only)

1 Cinnamon Stick

1 tbsp Star Anise

1 tbsp Whole Cloves

1 tbsp Cardamon Pods

6 Sprigs of Rosemary

 

1. Move your oven racks to the lower level and preheat to 450ºF
2. Marinate your chicken in an extra large ziplock bag with 2 cans of cider, orange peels, cinnamon, star anise, cardamon pods & rosemary for 24 hours (the longer the better!).
3. *Using a blunt knife, gently separate skin from the flesh (try not to pierce it) and rub butter under the skin to make it taste so good your insides will melt. This is the top secret step to a succulent bird. Slide some of those juicy orange peels from the marinade under the skin for maximum flavour. You won’t believe how much this is going to infuse your chicken.
4. Open remaining cider can and poke a few holes around the top to allow the juices to flow.
5. Take yourself back to 9th grade health class, just like the ol’ condom over the banana, carefully place your chicken over the can.
6. Place this beauty in a baking pan. At the neck opening, stuff the chicken with rosemary, then pour the marinade inside. Allow the remainder of the marinade to flow over and into the pan.
7. Roast on 450ºF for 10 minutes, then 325ºF for 1 hour. This is the perfect time to get your other fixings for your thanksgiving meal ready.
8. Once she’s done, stare at the most beautiful thing you will ever eat!

        

*Be brave and do not skip this step!      

Apple Stuffing

1 Apple

½ Onion

1 tbsp Butter

1 cup Chicken Broth

1 cup Chicken Drippings

1. Never made stuffing from scratch? Not to worry, we were just like you about a year ago. But once you go “scratch” you’ll never go back! Start by chopping up the apples, and onion into small cubes.
2. Sear the mixture in pan with butter for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
3. Add the broth and chicken drippings.
4. Simmer for 25 minutes.
5. While this is working it’s fragrant magic, chop up your baguette. Arrange it on a single layer in a greased baking tray.
6. Pour your apple-onion mixture over the baguette cubes.
7. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and pour over the baguette cubes. Mix well with a wooden spoon to evenly distribute the egg.
8. Pop it in the oven at 325ºF and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Roasted Potatoes

4 Medium Potatoes

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

1 Sprig of Rosemary

1. Chop up those potatoes into small cubes, throw them in a pot of boiling water and boil until soft.
2. Arrange in a single layer on a greased baking sheet.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and rosemary.
4. Roast at 325ºF for 20 minutes, turning occasionally.