Chicken With Coca-Cola and Lemons
Like many cooks, I keep a file of recipes I want to try. When I looked through it recently, there were a preponderance of lemon recipes, including one for roasted chicken with lemons and Coca-Cola from Frédérick Grasser-Hermé. Again, the savory and sweet. A food writer who has worked with chefs like Alain Ducasse, Grasser-Hermé is also the wife of the Parisian pastry chef Pierre Hermé. It humored me that a French cook would deign to baste her chicken with Coke. But it makes perfect sense: like many drinks – wheat beer, iced tea, sangria, Vietnamese sugar-cane juice – Coca-Cola is always improved by a wedge of lemon.
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- Juice of 3 lemons, zest of 2 lemons
- One 4 1/2 pound chicken, butterflied
- 3teaspoons kosher salt
- 1teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil, for sautéeing
- 1medium onion, thickly sliced
- ¼cup finely julienned ginger
- 3cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
- 1cup Coca-Cola
- ½teaspoon white vinegar
- 1tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Instructions
Step 1
In a large, rimmed dish, sprinkle the lemon juice over both sides of the chicken. Rub with the salt and pepper, then the lemon zest. Cover and chill for 4 hours.Step 2
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the chicken, skin side up, in a roasting pan. Reserve the lemon juice, diluting it with 1 tablespoon water. Cover the chicken with foil and roast for 30 minutes, basting it with the lemon juice every 5 to 10 minutes.Step 3
Meanwhile, cover the bottom of a medium sauté pan with a thin film of olive oil. Place over medium heat and add the onion and ginger. Cook until the onions are soft and golden, about 8 minutes, then stir in the garlic. Season with salt and pepper.Step 4
After the chicken has cooked for 30 minutes, lower the heat to 300 degrees and remove the foil. Begin basting every 10 minutes with the Coca-Cola, until the chicken juices run clear, about 1 hour more. Reheat the onions, adding the vinegars and 2 tablespoons of the chicken juices. Cook for 1 minute. Serve the chicken topped with the onions and pan drippings.