Little French Kitchen's Red Wine Roast Chicken Recipe

Photo: David Loftus

Red Wine Roast Chicken
Serves 4 to 6

Even in Bordeaux, arguably the wine capital of the world, sometimes you can’t quite finish a whole bottle. That’s when this marinade comes in handy. A loitering leftover glass of red wine can make for the perfect marinade. If leftover wine is a rare occurrence in your household, donate a little glass from your bottle of red and enjoy a spectacular dish to accompany the remainder of the bottle.

? cup red wine
6 tbsp/100 g tomato paste
3 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
3 sprigs marjoram, leaves picked, or ½ tsp dried
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (about 3½ lb/1.5 kg)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
18 oz/500 g baby potatoes, washed
3 onions, quartered
6 carrots, peeled and quartered lengthwise
½ cup water

Mix together the wine, tomato paste, thyme, marjoram, and vinegar. Season the chicken with plenty of salt and pepper, then place in a sealed ziplock bag with the wine mixture. Shake the bag to make sure each piece is well coated. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.

Place the potatoes in a saucepan of cold water, cover, and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 to 2 minutes, then drain in a colander.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Arrange the onions, carrots, and cooked potatoes in a large baking dish or tray and pour in the water.

Arrange the chicken pieces, skin-side up, in a layer on top of the vegetables in the dish. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Cover with a sheet of parchment or foil and roast for 30 minutes. Remove the parchment and baste the chicken with the cooking liquid. Roast, uncovered, for another 15 minutes, or until the skin is crisp. Serve immediately.

Les petites astuces—tips: Buying a whole chicken will always be more affordable. If you aren’t up for dissecting it yourself, ask your butcher to cut it into pieces for you. If there’s no knife-wielding butcher about, you can always cheat and go for chicken thighs.

If you’re unsure whether the chicken is cooked through, pierce the flesh with a sharp knife; the juices from the chicken should run clear.

Faire en avance—get ahead: The veg and chicken can be prepared up to 1 day in advance, then simply pop it all in the baking dish and cook.

Excerpted from My Little French Kitchen: Over 100 Recipes from the Mountains, Market Squares, and Shores of France by Rachel Khoo (Chronicle Books, 2014).

More French recipes:
Beef Bourguignon
Chicken Liver Mousse
French Cooking Tricks That Will Simplify Dinner