Roast Chicken with Pomegranate Sauce
Copyright © Deborah Ory
Original recipe by Israeli Chef Einat Admony
Adapted by Nancy Davidson for Epicurious
These fragrant birds, glazed with a Persian-inspired sauce, are delicious paired with the Swiss potato pancakes called rösti.
Ingredients
For Sauce
● 1 cup bottled pomegranate juice
● 1 cup sugar
For Chicken
● 8 (1-pound) poussins (small chickens) or 8 (1 1/4-pound) Cornish hens
● 2 teaspoons salt
● 2 teaspoons ground cumin
● 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
● 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
● 1/8 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
● 3/4 cup roasted walnuts
● 2 tablespoons or more vegetable oil, for frying
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 375 ° F – 190 ° C
- In small saucepan over moderately high heat, whisk together 1 cup water, pomegranate juice, and sugar. Bring to boil and cook, uncovered, until thick and syrupy, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Rinse poussins inside and out and pat dry. Cut out necks if attached and discard.
- In a small bowl, whisk together salt, cumin, turmeric, pepper, and saffron. Sprinkle poussins with spice mixture; press to adhere.
- Set large roasting pan on stove top, straddling two burners. Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking.
- Working in 2 batches, sear poussins until well browned, about 5 minutes per side, transferring as done to large platter and adding more oil as needed. Return poussins to pan and pour pomegranate syrup over.
- Roast 15 minutes. Baste poussins with pan juices and scatter walnuts around. Roast, basting occasionally, until instant-read thermometer inserted into 1 thigh (avoiding bone) registers 170°F, about 15 minutes more.
BeTeavon and ENJOY!
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