Imagine your favorite roast chicken served over a bed of quinoa with a kumquat marmalade. You will love it.
This chicken recipe was the result of some massive experimentation on my part. I started out wanting to make a curried chicken with kumquats a friend had brought over.
I had some fennel lying around and prepped the veggies with every intention of grilling boneless chicken thighs to complete the dish.
Only after Jade requested a rotisserie chicken did I start moving in a different direction. I was working on another dish that had all the flavors of Mexico.
So I decided to marinate the chicken with cilantro, tarragon, and lime.
I wasn’t sure how the Indian spices would work with the Mexican influence but being someone who likes to try new things I decided to wing it.
I am happy to report that the flavors married beautifully and the result is a bright and vibrant dish with zesty citrus, warmed by cumin and cinnamon.
The quinoa pops in your mouth, the chicken is crispy and golden and bursting with herbs.
The gooey kumquats and creamy sunchokes add so much depth to this dish.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did xxx Chef MM
PrintRotisserie Chicken with Kumquat Fennel & Sunchoke Marmalade
Ingredients
FOR THE CHICKEN
- 1 (4lb/2 Kg) whole chicken
- A handful of fresh cilantro
- A handful of fresh tarragon
- 1 lemon – juice & zest
- 2 limes – juice and zest
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 TBS whole grain mustard with seeds
- Coarse Salt and Black Pepper
- Stainless Steel Beer Can Chicken Roaster
FOR THE MARMALADE
- 1 fennel bulb cut into slivers
- 1 red onion cut into slivers
- 2 cups of kumquats halved
- 2 cups of sunchokes peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp ginger
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped
- 2 TBS peach/apricot/marmalade jam
- 2 TBS whole grain mustard with seeds
- 1 tspn sambal chilli (optional)
- 2 TBS olive oil
- Coarse Salt and Black Pepper
FOR THE QUINOA
- 1 ½ cup uncooked tricolored Quinoa
- 1 TBS stock powder
- 3 cups of water
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C
FOR THE CHICKEN
Place the fresh herbs, lemon and lime juice, and zest, garlic, mustard & olive oil, 1 tspn salt & 1 tspn pepper into a food processor and puree to make a paste
Remove neck and giblets from chicken and discard. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Generously season inside and outside of the chicken with salt and pepper.
Loosen the chicken skin and use half the marinade inside the chicken cavity and under the skin. Cover the outside of the chicken with the rest of the marinade and place the chicken on the stand. Marinade overnight if possible or at least 2 hours ahead. Bring chicken to room temperature before cooking.
Place the chicken stand on a foil-lined baking sheet or in a baking dish. Tie the wings close to the body using a piece of string to stop them from burning. Surround chicken with veggie mixture.
Move the oven rack to the bottom third of the oven to make space for the height of the chicken. Roast chicken and vegetables continuously basting with liquid in the drip tray (every 30 minutes) to keep it moist.
Roast chicken until the ENTIRE skin is nicely golden brown and crunchy. The color of the chicken skin will indicate when it is done. This will take about 2 hours for a smaller chicken and up to 3 hours for a larger one. Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before carving.
FOR THE MARMALADE
Cut all the veggies (onion, kumquats, fennel, and sunchokes) and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the spices (cumin, cinnamon, ginger, bay leaves, and curry powder). Add the mustard, garlic, chilli, jam, and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat with the mixture.
Place on a foil-lined baking sheet surrounding the chicken roaster and roast at 375 F/190C until the chicken is done.
Baste with liquid from the chicken stand and move veggies around so they don’t burn. Veggies will form a sticky, chunky marmalade.
FOR THE QUINOA
Bring 3 cups of water and 1 TBS stock to a boil. Add the Quinoa and reduce the heat and simmer covered till all water is absorbed (10-15 minutes).
TO SERVE
Place the quinoa on a large serving platter. Top with the chicken cut into pieces. Spoon on the Kumquat, fennel, sunchoke, and onion marmalade, and any liquid still at the bottom of the chicken roaster.
SERVES 4
Notes
Use the liquid in the bottom of the stand as gravy to pour over the dish. Cooking the chicken low and slow keeps it moist and juicy. A smaller chicken tastes better than a big bird.
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