Recipe and Photography by Meredith Steele
- Serves 4
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 four-pound chicken
Optional: Cubed seasonal vegetables
2 cups (16 ounces) pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Pomegranate arils for garnish, optional
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Combine the butter, sage, garlic and salt in a bowl and mix well until combined. With your hands, rub the butter over the entire chicken including the cavity and underneath the skin. (Optional: truss the chicken with cooking twine.)
Place chicken in the middle of a roasting pan or a large cast iron skillet. If desired, add cubed seasonal vegetables (like Brussels sprouts, winter squash, potatoes, carrots, onions), around the chicken, but be careful not to overcrowd the pan. Place the chicken in the oven and roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
While the chicken is roasting, pour the pomegranate juice in a saucepan and add pepper. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the juice has reduced by 3/4 and formed a syrup, about 15 minutes.
The glaze will be finished when it thickly coats the back of a spoon. Remove the chicken from the oven and pour half of the glaze over the chicken. If the glaze has hardened, heat it over low heat until liquid. Evenly spread the glaze over the chicken with a kitchen/pastry brush. Reserve left – over glaze for serving. Return the chicken to the oven and roast for an additional 10 minutes.
Allow the chicken to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before carving. Carve and plate. Spoon remaining glaze over each serving and garnish with pomegranate seeds, if desired.
MEREDITH STEELE is a recipe developer, food writer, food photographer and author of InSockMonkeySlippers.com, an award winning family food blog celebrating creative and fresh foods. Her recipe development and photography company, MBS Recipe Development specializes in multimedia recipe development for commercial and small business who’s clients include everyone from Ziploc® to small wineries. Meredith’s work has been published online, in various print media, and has been nominated for the SAVEUR awards. She can also be found across the pond writing a monthly column for JamieOliver.com. When Meredith is not in the kitchen, she’s roaming Dallas, Texas with her husband, curly-headed pixie of a daughter, and big floppy-eared dog.
