I was at a dinner the other night and we got onto the topic of the importance of eating meals as a family. Someone said to me “I bet you had a lot of family dinners growing up.” and I don’t think there could be a better compliment to my parents. In between competitive figure skating, soccer, cross country running and so many other things, there were always family meals. Whether it was a quick bite of pizza with my sister and mum before rushing off to a 4pm skating session, or our almost weekly Sunday lunches, eating together was always a priority. So much so, that as a kid, I never realized that other families didn’t always eat together.
(A recent Sunday brunch courtesy of my mum – from my Instagram.)
Even still, I’m 20 and my sister is 22, there are Sunday lunches or brunches. Usually it’s my mum doing the cooking, a delicious roasted chicken, or one of her famous soups, and there is always an Apple Crumble for dessert. Since I love to cook (who would’ve guessed!) I might whip something up for lunch, recently it’s been this Apple Cider Roasted Chicken. The apple cider adds a delicious sweetness to the chicken and roasted vegetables, and makes for a sweet gravy. I used rosemary as the herb in this dish because to me, rosemary screams cozy comfort food and that’s exactly what this chicken is.
Apple Cider Roasted Chicken (serves 4-6)
Ingredients
1 roasting chicken
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium potatoes, cut into wedges
2 carrots, sliced into rounds
1 onion, quartered
1 medium sweet potato, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon salt, divided
¾ teaspoon dried rosemary, divided
2 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon of butter, melted
¾ cup apple cider (regular apple juice would work)
¼ cup chicken broth
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Toss vegetables and garlic with olive oil ¼ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon rosemary. Dump vegetables into a roasting pan. Place chicken on top of vegetables.
Season chicken with remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt and pepper. Next, whisk together applesauce and melted butter. Brush mixture over chicken. Sprinkle chicken with remaining ¼ teaspoon of rosemary.
Add apple cider and chicken broth to the pan.
Roast for 45 minutes, baste with apple cider and broth mixture in the pan.
Continue roasting for another 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
I hope you give this Apple Cider Roasted Chicken a try for your next family dinner!
– Lou
Whams
Lou
Shaimaa
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Shirley
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