Best Roast Chickens With Plums Recipes

PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
• Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

ROASTED CHICKEN AND PLUMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season chickens with salt. Stuff each cavity with 2 sprigs rosemary. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Place each chicken in an ovenproof skillet (preferably cast-iron), and place 2 sprigs rosemary around each chicken. (Alternatively, you can also roast the 2 chickens together in a roasting pan.) Toss plums with honey in a large bowl.
• Roast chickens for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and scatter some of the plums around chickens. Return to oven, and roast for 20 minutes more. Spread remaining plums on a rimmed baking sheet, dot with butter, and top with remaining 2 sprigs rosemary. Transfer to oven. Continue to roast chickens until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees; meanwhile, roast plums until soft and brown around edges, about 25 minutes. Let chickens rest for 10 minutes before serving.

CRISPY CHICKEN WITH PEACHES AND PLUMS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450˚. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper. Arrange skin-side down in a large ovenproof skillet (the chicken will be snug) and place over medium-high heat. Cook until the chicken skin is sizzling, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the skin is very browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes (reduce the heat slightly if the chicken is browning too quickly). Transfer the chicken skin-side up to a plate; reserve the skillet.
• Meanwhile, remove the lemon zest in wide strips using a vegetable peeler, then juice the lemon. Trim and quarter the shallots. Smash the garlic. Cut the peaches and plums into 3/4-inch-thick wedges.
• Discard all but about 1 tablespoon fat from the skillet. Add the lemon zest, shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add the peaches, plums, honey and thyme sprigs, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
• Place the chicken, skin-side up, on top of the fruit and transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast until the chicken is cooked through and the fruit is soft and bubbling, about 15 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs. Divide among plates and top with the thyme leaves.

PLUM-GLAZED ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Arrange oranges in a shallow roasting pan, cut sides down. Place chicken over oranges, breast side up. Mix garlic powder and salt; rub over the outside and inside of chicken. Tuck wings under chicken; tie drumsticks together., Roast 1-1/4 hours. Meanwhile, drain plums, reserving liquid. Remove pits from plums. Place plums in a food processor; process until pureed., In a large skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until tender, 3-4 minutes. Add pureed plums and reserved plum liquid; stir in remaining ingredients. , Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes. Remove 3/4 cup mixture for glaze; reserve remaining mixture for sauce., Remove chicken from oven; brush chicken with some of the glaze. Roast until a thermometer inserted in thigh reads 170°-175°, brushing occasionally with remaining glaze, 3/4 to 1-1/4 hours longer. (Cover loosely with foil if chicken browns too quickly.), Remove chicken from oven; tent with foil. Let stand 15 minutes before carving. Reheat reserved sauce. Serve chicken with sauce.

ROAST CHICKENS WITH PLUMS

Steps:

• Grate the zest from the lemons and place in a small bowl. Set aside the zested lemons.
• Stir sumac, salt, pepper, cinnamon and allspice into the lemon zest. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic. The mixture should feel like wet sand. Rub it all over the chickens, including inside the cavity.
• Divide thyme bunch in half and place in the chicken cavities. Place chickens on a roasting rack set over a rimmed baking sheet, and let marinate, uncovered, in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
• When ready to roast, let chickens come to room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
• In a large roasting pan, toss together plums, shallots, honey, oil, salt, cinnamon, allspice, bay leaf and 2 tablespoons water. Spread out plum mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Place chickens on the rack over the plums in the pan. Roast for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, squeeze 1 tablespoon juice from reserved lemon and mix it with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Drizzle this over the chicken, then continue to roast until the birds are golden-skinned and cooked through, about 30 to 45 minutes longer.
• Let chickens rest, covered lightly with foil, for 10 minutes. Carve and serve with the plums and more thyme for garnish.

SHEET-PAN CHICKEN WITH ROASTED PLUMS AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Toast the fennel seeds in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Pour seeds into a mortar and pound with a pestle until coarsely crushed (or lay seeds on a cutting board and pound them with a can or jar).
• Put the seeds into a large bowl and stir in lemon juice, zest, garlic, honey, allspice and red-pepper flakes.
• Season chicken generously all over with salt and pepper and add to the bowl, turning the pieces to coat them with marinade. Mix in plums and thyme sprigs. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
• When ready to cook, heat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the chicken pieces, plums, and thyme sprigs on a rimmed baking pan. Add onions, spreading them out around the chicken and plums. Season plums and onions lightly with salt. Drizzle everything with olive oil.
• Roast until chicken is golden and cooked through, 30 to 45 minutes, removing the white meat if it's done before the dark meat.
• Transfer chicken pieces as they are done to a platter. Spoon the plums and onions around the chicken. Drizzle a little of the pan drippings over the chicken and serve, garnished with the herbs and flaky salt.

CHICKEN WITH PLUM GLAZE

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
• Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper to taste and place skin-side-up onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
• While the chicken is baking, stir together the plum jam, 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper, ginger, and horseradish in a small bowl. After the chicken has baked 20 minutes, brush with the plum glaze and return to the oven.
• Continue baking until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, 20 to 30 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).