Balsamic Roast Chicken with Potatoes & Green Beans

Balsamic Roast Chicken with Potatoes & Green Beans - July 24th, 2012

Tuesday was our first rainy day in awhile. I took advantage of this little break from the heat to make this roasted chicken. Thankfully we weren't sauna'ed out of the condo by the oven.

Balsamic Roast Chicken with Potatoes & Green Beans - page 16

"French-style green beans taste similar but are thinner (translating to faster cooking!) than the standard green bean variety. If you have only the thick, regular kind on hand for this recipe, don't fret: simply add two to three minutes to the steaming time."

I find it slightly humorous that the write-up for this recipe doesn't even mention the chicken. You would think the green beans were the star of the meal instead of the chicken. Don't be fooled. The chicken shines bright in this one.

I used a 3 pound whole chicken. It made plenty for both Niall and I, plus two additional lunches for myself.

The rub used two absolute musts for a roast chicken: Thyme & Rosemary. Unfortunately I only had ground thyme (actually, I accidentally bought ground instead of dried) so had to go with that, but that bird cooked up divinely. My place smelt really yummy.

Was thrilled to see this when I took off the foil at the end. I know the recipe called for the complete removal of the skin before serving, but I had some. SOOOO good. Crispy goodness. 

The balsamic drizzle that went over top of the chicken before cooking gave it that little extra, and the bit the dripped into the bottom of the roaster combined with the juices. While the chicken was resting after cooking, I kept the potatoes in a bit longer but took them off and directly into the balsamic reduction in the pan. So they absorbed the 'jus'.  Love roasted potatoes.

For the green beans, as I do not have a steamer, I just quickly boiled them so they still had some bite. A little drizzle of lemon juice over top to finish them off.

The chicken was so moist and flavourful. An excellent recipe.

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