Balsamic Chicken aka the Best Chicken You Will Ever Have

This is a recipe to make on the weekend, when you have a bit of spare time and want your house to smell amazing! Make two chickens if you're having company - people will like this chicken SO MUCH that they will eat ALL of it! :) Plus, you get to use red wine in this recipe and you know what that means? You get to drink the rest of the bottle! ;) Woot!

I have to apologize though, the last time I made this recipe, I took photos all the way through the prep stages, but I was so excited to eat it, I forgot to take photos of the finished chicken. :( So I'm sorry, you won't get photos of what the bird looks like when its cooked, but I can tell you what it looks like. It takes on a super dark finish on the skin from the red wine and the onions in the bottom of the pan carmelize and turn a really dark colour too - they taste sweet and delicious. I hate red onions, but I gobble these up because they taste THAT good! So you'll have to trust me on this one - its delicious and beautiful when its done. So please try this recipe out, despite my dismal attempt to photograph it!

Balsamic Chicken

Recipe from my Auntie Shannon

Ingredients:

• 1 5-6lb chicken
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp coarse salt (yes, tbsp is correct - it brings out the flavour in the chicken and doesn't taste as salty as it sounds!!)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• black pepper
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 big red onions

Method:

1. In the morning (minimum 2 hours before cooking), combine rosemary, salt, garlic, black pepper in a bowl. Rub under chicken skin and inside of the chicken. Let stand covered in the fridge until ready to start cooking.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Finely slice red onions and layer on bottom of roasting pan. Place chicken on top of onions and pour red wine and balsamic vinegar over the chicken.
3. Bake for 2 hours (or 3 hours if doing 2 chickens). Baste with juices from bottom of pan and additional red wine every 1/2 hour. If chicken gets too dark, cover loosely with foil to prevent further browning. Remember to baste!!!

*This is excellent erved with garlic dill mashed potatoes!

So thats it - its a simple recipe - you just have to make sure you have time to put it on to sit for a bit before putting it into the oven. Dinner party guests will definitely be impressed when you serve your chicken with the carmelized onions and garlic dill mashed potatoes! Make this for your next Sunday dinner with friends or family, they will love it!

Happy Cooking my Friends!