Chicken with Orange, Lemon & Ginger

Mirj's Note:

This is delicious and fragrant! Your house smells wonderful while the chicken is roasting and the neighbors knock on your door looking for invitations to dinner. I make this at least once a month.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 lemon
• 1 roasting chicken, about 5 pounds
• grated lemon, zest of
• 1 lemon, cut into quarters
• grated orange, zest of
• 1 orange, cut into quarters
• 3 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh gingerroot
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 5 tablespoons margarine, melted,or olive oil
• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 3 tablespoons honey
• orange section (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 350°F degrees.
2. Cut the lemon into quarters.
3. Rub the outside of the chicken with one of the lemon quarters, then discard.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon and orange zests and 1 tablespoon of the grated ginger.
5. Rub this mixture evenly in the cavity.
6. Put the lemon and orange quarters inside the bird.
7. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan.
8. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper.
9. In the now-empty small bowl, combine the melted margarine or olive oil, lemon and orange juices, honey, and the remaining 2 tablespoons ginger.
10. Mix well.
11. Place the chicken in the oven and roast, basting with the citrus juice mixture at least 4 times during cooking, until the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a knife, about 1 hour.
12. Transfer to a serving platter and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
13. Carve the chicken.
14. Garnish with orange sections.
15. Variation: Use 4 tablespoons pomegranate juice in place of the lemon juice.

Reviews

[Barbie]

My whole family like this (which is extremely unusual - they are very picky eaters)! I served it over rice. The only thing I would change, is to make it saucier, to go over pasta or rice. Yum!

[Dshipley0917]

Very good and moist. I made a romantic dinner for my husband and served slices over parmesan angle hair pasta. I started with a small bowl of Dick Clark's Mushroom Soup, a warm greens salad with fresh tomato with Italian dressing and a Cabernet.

[HeatherFeather]

This was very good. The citrus & honey mixture was very flavorful and made the chicken very tasty. I served this as part of our Easter meal and it was enjoyed by all. Note: I used a smaller chicken and was surprised that I needed even more cooking time - next time I might cook it at a slightly higher temp.