Sangria Chicken from Gourmet Magazine, March 2009

Even though there are a few days before it's officially spring, I'm sitting at my desk with my window wide open because it's 77 degrees after 9pm. It's one of those evenings that makes you wish for porch swings, drinks with umbrellas and maybe even sangria.

Ok, I'd probably think of something like a vodka gimlet or mint julep (especially here in the south) before sangria but since I made Sangria Chicken for dinner I wanted to create a theme. Please work with me on this one. Think sangria.

I decided upon this recipe simply because it required very little prep and I had chicken in the fridge. The recipe calls for chicken breasts but since I had a whole chicken, I cut it up and used it instead. Dudette has discovered drumsticks and when I make chicken she requests the piece with the handle. Henceforth, drumsticks are on the menu when chicken is.

While there is little prep, this is not a fast-cooking recipe. As far as prep goes, if you remove the turning a whole chicken into six pieces part, the prep consists of cutting grapes in half. If it's been a long day and you're tired, trust me, you can handle this one.

It starts with a basic seasoning of the chicken. The pieces get tossed in a bowl with some oil, salt and pepper (for future reference, I'd just lay those pieces on the tray, hit them with cooking spray and then sprinkle salt and pepper on them...why dirty up a bowl?).  Then they're put in a very hot oven.

While the chicken cooks, red wine and orange marmalade simmer strongly on the stove. The instructions say that it should take about twenty minutes for the liquid to reduce down to a glaze. It was my experience that it took much longer for three cups of stuff (2 cups wine and 1 cup marmalade) to reduce to a single cup. I think it was closer to 50 minutes total. Next time I'll prepare this before the chicken even goes in the oven. If given a little time to cool it thickens to an easier-to-apply glaze.

After 20 minutes of cooking, the glaze reduction is applied to the chicken and the cut grapes are strewn between the pieces. Cook for ten minutes more, re-glaze and cook again for a final ten minutes (making 40 minutes total).  This is why it's important to know that the glaze takes longer to reduce than 20 minutes. If I had used all breast meat it would have dried out terribly.

That's all there is to this dish though. It's simple to make. I did use home made orange marmalade, which was quite a bit sweeter than some store-bought jars. The recipe suggests a sweeter one and I can see why, especially since they're going for the sangria affect.

As far as how this was, Hubby and I enjoyed it tremendously. It had very good flavor and was finger licking good. In fact, the glaze was especially yummy on the wings. I think if hot pepper flakes were added it would make an outstanding wing sauce.  The big surprise was Dudette. She ate both pieces of leg and thigh. Both. Totally. She loved the chicken. That in and of itself makes this a huge winner of a recipe.

Sangria chicken; it's a keeper.

Sangria Chicken
from Gourmet Magazine

4 chicken breast halves with skin and bones (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups dry red wine
1 cup sweet orange marmalade
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups seedless red grapes, halved lengthwise

Preheat oven to 450°F.

In a large bowl, toss chicken with oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Lay chicken, skin side up, in a large rimmed sheet pan and cook until pale golden, about 20 minutes. Pour off juices.

In a heavy skillet, briskly simmer wine and marmalade for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 1 cup. Off heat, stir in lemon juice to taste.

Brush chicken with the glaze and put grapes around the pieces. Roast another 10 minutes. Brush with remaining glaze and roast until chicken is just cooked through, about 10 minutes more.