Cajun Sittin’ Chicken – Oven Method

Description

This recipe is very similar to our Cajun Sittin’ Chicken – Barbecue Method – only in this version the chicken is placed in a baking dish, surrounded by vegetables and roasted in the oven. It can be prepared any time of year and if you are inclined to make gravy with the drippings the addition of the vegetables creates great flavour.

I know it looks rather barbaric perched on the chicken sitter, but while the chicken is dry roasting on the outside, the inside is being bathed with your choice of steamy beer, wine or fruit juice. The result is moist, tender, falling-off-the-bone meat, encased in the spicy crispy skin. You can easily experiment with different spice rubs and sauces. Here we have used our Rub for Barbecue with Cajun Spice Sauce…for a less spicy, more smoky flavour try our Beer Barbecue Sauce instead. I’ve also prepared different variations using our Tuscan, Moroccan, and Spanish Spice Blends.

Makes 4-6 servings

Printable Recipe

 

Ingredients

1 whole	Chicken, 4-5 pounds, giblets removed, rinsed under cool water
4 Tbsp	Roasted Garlic Olive Oil
1 Cup	Beer, OR wine OR fruit juice – room temperature
2 Tbsp	Rub for Barbecue
1/4 Cup	Cajun Spice Sauce
1 1/2 whole	Onion – peeled, cut in large wedges
2 whole	Carrot – peeled, cut in large pieces
1 whole	Potato – red skin left on – cut in quarters
2 Tbsp	Roasted Garlic Olive Oil
2 Tbsp	Flour – all purpose
2 Tbsp	Cold water

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.

2. Pour beer, wine or fruit juice into the chicken sitter. If you want you can also put a spring of rosemary and/or thyme in the liquid. Set the chicken sitter in the middle of a baking dish or oven and stove proof pan. Set the chicken on the sitter so that it is sitting upright, with the sitter in its cavity. Insert a large piece of onion in the opening at the top of the chicken (this will help to keep the steaming moisture inside the chicken.)

3. Using your hands rub the chicken all over with half of the Roasted Garlic Olive Oil. Then rub the chicken all over with the Rub for Barbecue. Then brush the Cajun Spice Sauce all over the chicken.

4. In a mixing bowl toss the remaining Roasted Garlic Olive Oil into the vegetables. Place the vegetables all around the chicken.

5. Place the baking dish in on the lower rack of the preheated oven. Bake for 1 hour and then check the chicken. Keep checking the chicken every 15 minutes or so, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F. The total cooking time will vary depending on the size of your chicken. A 4 lb chicken will usually take around 1 1/2 hours. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, a way to tell if the chicken is done is to poke it deeply with a knife (the thigh is a good place to do this), if the juices run clear, not pink, the chicken is done. If you find the outside is starting to burn before the inside is done, place a piece of tin foil over the top of the chicken.

5. Remove the baking dish from the oven and carefully lift the chicken off the sitter, transferring it to a tray or pan. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes.

6. In the meantime make gravy with the drippings, as follows:

• remove the chicken sitter from the pan (reserve the juice)
• remove the vegetables from the pan
• skim off any obvious fat
• place the pan on the stove top on medium high heat
• make slurry with flour and cold water and whisk it into the drippings
• stir with a whisk until the flour has thickened and the gravy is smooth
• slowly pour the juice from the chicken sitter into the gravy to make 2 cups, if necessary add additional chicken stock or water
• season the gravy with salt, pepper and herbs

6. The chicken can be served two ways. If you prefer to leave the bone in simply cut the chicken in pieces. If you prefer to reserve the carcass for stock carve the meat off the bones. Serve immediately with the hot gravy.