Pot Roasted Chicken Tart and Sweet

After three weeks on the road doing surprisingly little cooking, it is absolutely fantastic to be back in my kitchen experimenting with old and new recipes. I never thought I could miss cooking so much. I guess I must have been missing (a) the process of creation, (b) the part where I get to see happy looks on the faces of my family when they sit down to eat a meal I’ve made or (c) eating delicious home cooked meals 100% guaranteed to be gluten free.

Today I experimented with another outstanding Jamie Oliver recipe. Seriously, I must be like the millionth aspiring cook to say "That guy’s food is so sexy". My husband laughs good-naturedly over my Jamie Oliver crush, but I feel no shame. I think most chefs must feel the same way that I do.

The recipe I’ve been free-styling off of is his Pot-roasted poussins agro dolce. This basically translates to "Little Chickens Tart and Sweet". Of course, my local market was nowhere near chic enough to carry poussins or even Cornish game-hens for that matter. I had to settle for a standard roasting bird, and made a lot of other little changes along the way. I’ll give you my modifications to his recipe as long as we have the clear understanding that this outstanding meal comes directly from Jamie Oliver... and that you should run (not walk) to your nearest bookstore or Amazon dealer to purchase Cook With Jamie. You won’t regret it for a second!

It’s great to make this dish in the early afternoon when you can go at a relaxed pace and really savor the stunning aromas. Once you’ve got it in the oven you can kick back with a novel and a cup of tea and look forward to enjoying a gorgeous meal with your family later on. When he first saw our dinner my husband remarked, "Mmmmm, it looks like Coq au Vin..." but when he actually tasted it he concluded, "but WOW, the flavor is even better!"


Pot Roasted Chicken, Tart and Sweet
Adapted from a terrific recipe by Jamie Oliver


What You’ll Need:

1 roasting chicken (3.75 – 4 lbs)
1/2 large orange, sliced into two pieces
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
2 cinnamon sticks
4 large sprigs of rosemary
5 celery sticks, thinly sliced
9 oz sun dried tomatoes in oil
3 cups gf Chianti* (Jamie uses 3 glasses)
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 handful seedless green grapes
4 oz thinly sliced pancetta


How It Works:

If I told you this, I think I’d be stealing his amazing recipe. Buy the book!

That said, I’ve found a food magazine online who apparently has permission to publish the original recipe and I don’t see any harm in linking to Leite's Culinaria. You can basically follow the directions there, however if you're interested in my modifications here they are:

Tasty and Gluten Free-Style:


Since I used one large chicken instead of several small ones, I filled its cavity with two orange quarters instead of one. I also stuffed both cinnamon sticks and 2 of the rosemary sprigs into the chicken.




I used 3 cups of gf Chianti rather than 3 glasses. Lush-ious, right ;) hahaha. Note that I used slightly fewer sun dried tomatoes than Jamie does... and I had to blend them for quite a while in the Cuisinart before the tomato liquid had an even consistency.


Finally, Jamie’s recipe calls for 16 thin slices of pancetta. I used about 6, from a 4 oz package. Believe me, there was plenty of pancetta to cover the entire roasted chicken... and its crispiness added just the right finishing touch! I didn’t use the pine nuts that he suggests (family allergy) but they might well be yummy.

This was seriously one of the best gluten free dinners I’ve ever made... the intensely flavorful mix of tart and sweet in the sauce was a symphony for the taste buds. I hope your family enjoys it as much as ours did.