A brief glimpse into the daily happenings of a 6-year-old, his new baby brother and his family.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

What's for dinner: Rosemary Roasted Chicken and Potatoes


I decided to do a nice Sunday dinner tonight, so I tried a recipe from the seasonal Kraft Food and Family Magazine . It was really good. We all enjoyed it... ok, Don and I really liked it... see video below for Ben's reaction. But what does he know? He eats fake fruit and Jesus crackers.

Rosemary Roasted Chicken & Potatoes

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tsp. dried rosemary leaves (I used fresh rosemary and used about 1 ½ tsp.)
1 tsp. black pepper, divided
1 whole roasting chicken (3 ½ lbs)
6 tbsp. zesty Italian salad dressing
2 lb. red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 slices of bacon, crisply cooked, drained and crumbled
2 green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cream cheese, ¾ tsp. rosemary (if fresh otherwise 1 tsp. if dried) and ½ tsp. pepper. Starting at the neck of the chicken, use handle of a wooden spoon or fingers to carefully separate skin from meat of the breast, thighs and legs of chicken (think of it as chicken-liposuction), trying not to tear the skin. Spoon cream cheese mixture under skin; use fingers to push and spread some of the mixture out to the thighs and legs. Place chicken in shallow baking pan. Brush with 2 Tbsp. of the dressing. (I used my stoneware roasting pan—it worked great).

Toss potatoes with remaining 4 Tbsp. dressing, remaining ¾ tsp. rosemary (if fresh, otherwise 1 tsp if dried) and remaining ½ tsp. pepper in separate 13X9 (again, I used stoneware which made the potatoes really crispy and good) baking pan. Bake chicken and potatoes 1 hour 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (165 degrees), stirring potatoes every 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to large serving dish, reserving juices in the pan. Let chicken stand 10 minutes before serving. Meanwhile, add bacon and onions to the potatoes; mix lightly. Spoon potatoes around chicken on dish. Spoon off and discard fat from reserved chicken juices in pan. Serve chicken and potato mixture with reserved juices.

Serves 6

Heather notes: If you don't already receive Food and Family (it's free!), use the link above to sign up. It always has lots of great (EASY) recipes for each season. I’m going to try this method again, mixing garlic and roasted red peppers with the cream cheese for an Italian-type chicken. YUM!

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