Chicken with Cherry Sauce

Name: Chicken with Cherry Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 70 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Istanbul & Anatolian Heart
Ingredients: 1 whole chicken; 1 lemon; 1 small onion; 1 tsp oregano; 2 tbsp butter; salt; pepper; 1 cup cherry compote juice; 4 tbsp sugar; 1 tbsp honey; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1 tbsp corn starch; 1.5 cup cherries; 1 tbsp butter; 0.25 cup sliced almonds

Chicken, cherry compote juice and lemon come together in this Turkish sauce, fragrant with cinnamon and roasted in the oven. Serve with pilaf with orzo.

1 hr 30 min · Serves 4 · Medium

Method

Start cooking mode

Time: Prep 20 min · Cook 70 min · 90 min total
Difficulty: medium

1
Wash the chicken and dry it with paper towel. Season with salt and pepper inside and outside of chicken. Also season with oregano inside of it and place lemon wedges and onion in it. Spread the butter all over the chicken with your hand. Place chicken in a oven dish, cover with aluminum foil. Preheat the oven 500 F (260 C), cook for about half an hour. Remove the aluminum foil, reduce the heat to 350 F (180 C), cook another 1 hour. Let sit chicken 10 minutes, then cut in four.
2
In the meantime prepare the sauce; Place the sugar, honey, cinnamon and corn starch in a small pot. Slowly add 1 cup of cherry compote juice and stir constantly to avoid lumps over medium heat. When it gets thicker, add in the cherries and butter. Cook for 1 more minute and turn the heat off.
3
Place the baked chicken pieces on a service plates. Pour the cherry sauce over the chicken, sprinkle some roasted almonds and serve with Pilaf with Orzo.