Roasted Balsamic Chicken

There are few things in life I love as much as balsamic vinegar. I drizzle it over salads. I reduce it down and slather it on top of steak. I dip bread in it (no oil please, I'll just have the vinegar). It's good on cooked veggies and in rice dishes and, especially, with roasted meats.

This recipe is compliments of Giada De Laurentiis' cookbook Everyday Italian, and it's a staple at our house. I love the tart vinegar with tangy mustard and spicy garlic, what a combination. The thick sauce you make is to-die-for on the meat, and I usually roast potato slices so they can get a healthy drizzle of the sauce as well. And a big plus: you can make the marinade the night before, just throw it in a Ziploc bag with the chicken pieces. Makes for a quick hot meal the following day.

Roasted Balsamic Chicken

Ingredients:

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. Dijon mustard

1/4 c. fresh lemon juice

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 to 1/3 c. olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 (4-pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces (guts stuff reserved for another use)

1/2 c. low-salt chicken broth

1 Tbsp. lemon zest (optional garnish)

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley leaves (optional garnish)

Whisk the vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper in small bowl to blend. Combine the vinaigrette and chicken pieces in a large resealable plastic bag; seal the bag and toss to coat. Refrigerate, turning the chicken pieces occasionally, for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove chicken from the bag and arrange the chicken pieces on a large greased baking dish. Roast until the chicken is just cooked through, about 1 hour. If your chicken browns too quickly, cover it with foil for the remaining cooking time.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Place the baking dish on a burner over medium-low heat. Whisk the chicken broth into the pan drippings, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the baking sheet with a wooden spoon and mixing them into the broth and pan drippings. Reduce to desired thickness (I usually let it go about 10 minutes, to get very very thick).

Drizzle the pan drippings over the chicken. Sprinkle the lemon zest and parsley over the chicken, and serve.