This last abundant crop recipe for May, will contain 2 recipes. There is a reason for that:  I ran out of tangerines.  I know.  It’s a travesty, right?  And totally ruins the point of the whole abundant crop thing.  Well anyways, I bought some mandarins to test out this chicken recipe (because Trader Joes had no tangerines) last week, and then this Sunday I found tangerines.  So I am still going to show the chicken recipe, even though it uses mandarin oranges, and not tangerines.

For the citrus chicken, I will just show you what I did with pictures.  There is not much of a recipe.  Oh yeah, and this is almost a whole meal right here!  I found this recipe from Giada, and then just winged it. I used one Whole Chicken, 2 Mandarin Oranges, 2 Lemons, 3 sprigs Rosemary, a few scoops of chopped Garlic, 6 or 7 Red Potatoes, Olive Oil,  and Salt & Pepper.

There are a few sprigs of Rosemary in the right side of the picture.  Just pretend you can see them.  And what’s funny is there is a shallot behind the chicken’s butt, but I cut it out of the picture — however I did not use it.  Keep this knowledge for later though, trust me!

What you cannot see.  I cleaned the chicken by rubbing it under running water and then pulling out the giblets. Yuck! Toss those.  I mean, if you have a good use for them, then save them. But I do not — I just toss away.  The easiest way is to keep that bag that the chicken was in right there, and put them straight in it, then into the trash.  I’m a smart girl, I know. Okay so you cleaned the chicken, then pat it dry with a paper towel.  Pour some EVOO (that’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but we all know that from Rachel Ray, right?) on it and smear it all around.  Pretend you are giving the chicken a massage.  Then sprinkle salt and pepper (freshly cracked is best) and rub in.  You want to put the EVOO and spices on both the outside and inside of the chicken.  Okay so once you do that, squeeze on juice from one lemon and one mandarin orange — which you can see in the picture.

Stuff the cavity with the squeezed lemon and orange halves.  Also throw in a sprig or 2 of rosemary.  Then you will lift up the top layer of skin and rub with oil and salt and pepper and garlic.  I had to cut the center membrane a little bit, but it worked.  Now, your chicken should be ready to go.

This was my creative inspiration for the day.  Instead of using yarn (I know, you are supposed to use kitchen twine, but yarn is what I always have on hand) to tie the legs together, cut a little hole in the skin on one drumstick.  You can now stick the other leg through it.  This was accidental genius – and I’m sure it’s like really really bad to do in a professional kitchen, but it works just fine in mine!

There is our chicken, ready to go.  At this point, you will still be cursing the fact that your good roasting pan is nowhere to be found (you may or may not find it RIGHT WHERE YOU LOOKED in the garage a few days later), but decide that you want the chicken & potatoes to cook in the juices.  So you remove the little broiler rack which you had left in the pan.  Marvel at your leg holding genius.

Cut the potatoes into fourths and throw in the pan around the bird.  Drizzle some EVOO and salt and pepper on top of the potatoes.  Then cut up a few more of those lemons and mandarins and squeeze the juice on the potatoes.  Leave the squeezed fruit in the pan as well.

This is how it will look right as you put it in the oven.  Can you spy the rosemary sticking out of the chicken’s butt? I can. haha.

And here you have it — your complete chicken!  You will have baked it at 400 degrees for about an hour, or until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees.

I had to go to Bible Study before this bad boy was finished, so I asked Matt if he would please take some pictures of it once it was finished.  But I did have leftovers, and the chicken was delicious.  Incredibly juicy.

Now, I said I would include the Gluehwein recipe as well, as it actually includes tangerines.  This is a recipe that I have been making for a few years now, I think I found the original at allrecipes.com, but I cannot be sure.  I was at the grocery store on Sunday, to pick up my tangerines, when I noticed how yucky it was outside.  On a whim, I decided to buy a cheapish bottle of red wine and make some gluehwein.  And you know what — I think I like the recipe even better with tangerines (I originally used oranges).  It was the perfect drink for a drizzly Sunday afternoon.

Doesn’t it look yummy simmering in the pot here?  I first tasted this in the Austrian Alps and fell in love with it — your friends will love it too!

Gluehwein
Ingredients

• 5 Tangerines
• approximately 1/4 cup Water
• 3/4 cup White Sugar
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 10 whole Cloves
• 1 bottle Red Wine (I use Merlot)

Squeeze the tangerines into a measuring cup, saving 2 squeezes halves. Fill up the cup with water until you have 3/4 cup liquid.  I had about 1/2 cup tangerine juice, and 1/4 cup water.  Combine that with the sugar and cinnamon stick in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Push cloves into the outside of those 2 tangerine halves and drop in the pot.  Simmer for 30 minutes, or until syrupy.  Add wine and heat until steaming, but not simmering.  Remove the oranges and serve.

When serving this for a group, I double or triple the recipe and transfer to a crockpot once you add the wine.

This is definitely a winter recipe, but as it was a wintery day last week, it hit the spot!  What do you think of the recipe?  Will you give it a try?