Four for Dinner

And, to go with the apple tart on this cold, blustery summer evening: Paprika Roast Chicken with Sweet Onion.

I was re-organizing my very full recipe folder and found this recipe from the February 2009 issue of Gourmet (sniff, sniff). I looked it up on epicurious.com and found that it was highly rated. Excellent. Quick. Also, excellent.

I made a couple of adjustments because I wanted to roast some vegetables and thought a 500 degree oven might burn them. Also, my cayenne has proven stronger than others, so I dialed down the cayenne. And, I seasoned the chicken with salt a few hours before coating it with the spice mixture. Then, I let it marinate in the spice mixture for another couple of hours. All, in all, as advertised: delicious, easy, quick. What more could I ask for? I served this dish with roasted cauliflower and carrots, plus some roasted sweet potatoes, which were cooked in the oven with the chicken (on a lower rack).


Paprika Roast Chicken with Sweet Onion
adapted from Gourmet, Feb. 2009

serves 4-6

1 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp. sweet paprika
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 3-1/2 lb. chicken cut into 8 pieces
1 large, sweet onion, cut length-wise into 1/2-inch wedges

salt to taste

In a large bowl, mix olive oil, paprika, cinnamon and cayenne together to form a paste. Pat chicken pieces dry and sprinkle with kosher salt as desired. Add chicken and onion to the bowl with the paprika paste. Coat, as evenly as possible, all of the pieces of chicken and the onions. Place into an oven proof casserole in a single layer (a 9X13-inch Pyrex dish, or similar, is perfect). Refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator while the oven is preheating (for about 1/2 hour).

Bake chicken in the top third of the oven for 35 minutes, or until the skin is nicely browned (sort of a chestnut color). Skim fat from pan juices, if necessary. Serve immediately.