On the table: Roast Chicken

Amelia Saltsman's Roast Chicken with tangerines, green olives, and cilantro.

Recipe from her book "The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen."

Roast Chicken with tangerines, green olives, and silantro.

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INGREDIENTS:

1 chicken, 4 pounds.

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.

2 tablespoons Silan (date syrup)

2 to 3 teaspoons Harissa spice

mix, Harissa paste, or 1⁄2 teaspoon each cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, coriander, and cumin

Kosher or sea salt

A pound of shallots (about 4 large or 8 small)

6 tangerines or other sweet mandarins

1 cup (lightly-brined green olives, such as Castelvetrano

1 to 2 cups white wine, stock, or water

PREPARATION :

1 . Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C). Wash the chicken and pat it dry. Whisk together 4 tablespoons (olive oil, the Silan, the Harissa to taste, and 1 teaspoon salt. Peel shallots and cut into quarters if large or halves if small. Cut unpeeled tangerines into quarters or sixths and poke out visible seeds.

2. Scatter shallots and tangerines in the bottom of a large roasting pan and toss with a little olive oil and salt. Rub chicken inside and out with the Silan-Harissa-oil mixture. Toss a few tangerine and shallot pieces into the cavity of the chicken. Place chicken, breast-side up, in the pan and loosely tie the legs together with twine, if desired.

3. Roast for 30 minutes, baste with juices that have collected in the pan, and add the olives. Continue cooking, adding wine, stock, or water as needed to prevent the liquids from burning, basting the bird once or twice more, until the skin is a vibrant brown color and the meat is cooked all the way through, about 30 minutes longer.

4. Transfer the chicken, shallots, olives, and tangerines to a platter and tent loosely with foil. Place roasting pan on the stovetop over medium heat, pour in 1 cup of wine, stock, or water and stir to deglaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits. Cook until heated through, reduced, thickened, and glossy, about 2 minutes. To defat the juices, pour them into a fat separator or skim o with a large spoon.

5. Carve the chicken and serve with the shallots, olives, tangerines, and the warm pan juices.

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Article reprinted with permission from The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen by Amelia Saltsman, Sterling Epicure, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.