Brush Your Chicken with Pomegranate Molasses for a Lacquered Finish.
I’ve written about buttermilk brining chicken more times than I can remember at this point. It’s what I always do before roasting a chicken. I think it delivers the best tasting chicken. Enough said.
This time I wanted to see if I could get a lacquered finish on the chicken by simply basting it several times with pomegranate molasses. The only thing I added was a small amount of soy sauce. After removing the chicken from the buttermilk and patting it dry, I brushed it with the molasses and roasted it at 450° for 10 minutes. I took it out of the oven, brushed it with another layer of molasses and let it roast for another 10 minutes. I continued in this manner until my chicken was done at 50 minutes.
I had a large chicken – 4 3/4 pounds. The amount of cooking time will depend on the size of your chicken. When it came out of the oven, I lightly brushed it with a little more molasses and let it sit for 20 minutes before carving it. As you can see, it roasted up beautifully. The skin was shiny and had a wonderfully bright/sweet/salty flavor. I showered it with pomegranate arils and served it with my Eggplant Spread and Ekmek. Was it as delicious as I’d hoped? Yep, it was. And no matter how many times I serve a roast chicken, it is always one of my family’s favorites. And one of mine, too.
Roast Chicken with Pomegranate Molasses
Recipe by Renée Robinson6
servingsButtermilk Brined Spatchcocked Chicken Brushed with Pomegranate Molasses
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Ingredients
4.75 pounds 4.75 whole chicken, spatchcocked
2 cups 2 buttermilk
4 teaspoons 4 table salt or 2 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1/4 - 1/3 cup 1/4 - 1/3 pomegranate molasses
1 teaspoon 1 soy sauce
1/2 cup 1/2 pomegranate arils
Directions
- Marinate the chicken in the buttermilk and salt overnight. Remove from the refrigerator an hour before roasting.
- Stir together the pomegranate molasses and soy sauce.
- Preheat oven to 450° with a rack in the center. Remove the chicken from the brine, letting the buttermilk drip off. Lay the chicken on a parchment lined half sheet pan. Pat the skin dry with a paper towel. Brush with pomegranate molasses and roast for 10 minutes. Continue to roast for another 40 minutes, brushing with the pomegranate molasses every 10 minutes.
- The chicken is done when a temperature probe registers 165° when poked into the thickest part of the thigh. Let rest for 20 minutes before carving and garnishing with pomegranate arils. Enjoy!
Equipment
- Half Sheet Pan
2 Responses
Made this tonight for dinner and my only regret is that I didn’t take a picture – as beautiful as it tastes! I will never roast a chicken without first marinating in buttermilk again. Even the breast of a 4.75# bird was tasty and juicy. And the pomegranate/soy glaze was the perfect blend of sweet and savory and resulted a beautifully crisp skin. Mashed sweet potatoes were a perfect accompaniment. Thanks for an awesome recipe that I’ll be making over and over!!
Gary, you have no idea how thrilled I am to hear this!! I really like this recipe, too, and I love knowing that someone else agrees with me. Lol! Thanks so much for letting me know!