Marmalade & Cognac Glazed Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon

This is a recipe that could not be easier, working great for dinner for 2 or a large crowd. Have the butcher cut up whole chickens for you, if you are not feeling adventurous.

Oven preheating to 400 degrees while you assemble all. Pat dry your chicken pieces. Put on a baking sheet or in a baking pan. Sprinkle liberally with salt & pepper. Cut up several lemons in quarters and juice over the chicken pieces, being careful to not get in the seeds. I juice it over a small strainer that catches the seeds. Then tuck in the lemons amongst the chicken pieces. Also tuck in full sprigs of rosemary. You will be amazed at how good your house smells once this gets cooking. Now, drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the whole lot. Let sit. In a small bowl put in a generous portion of a marmalade or jam of your liking–think peach, orange, plum, nectarine. Peach is generally my choice. Add to that several good splashes of Cognac to thin it all out. If you don’t generally have a bottle of Cognac sitting around, pick one up next time you are shopping. It lasts forever and is so great in so many recipes and desserts. Our bottle has been in the cupboard for ages. With a brush or small spoon put the mixture over all of the chicken pieces. This stuff is magic. Put all in the oven and bake/roast for 40 minutes or until the temp of the chicken is 160. The juices should run clear when you prick a piece with a knife. I am a huge fan of the instant read thermometer, as I just feel most comfortable knowing exactly the temp.

Once done, take out of the oven and cover with aluminum foil. The chicken will continue to cook a tad while resting. The chicken juices will marry with the lemon juice, the olive oil, the rosemary oils and the marmalade that has dripped off the chicken making one amazing sauce to spoon over the chicken once you are ready to serve. Is divine with rice or mashed potatoes, as the sauce becomes kind of a piquant gravy of sorts too.