Chile-Red Wine and Grape Roasted Chicken is an absolutely unbelievable meal! Filled with smoky, sweet, hearty and fresh flavors, it’s as delicious as it sounds and looks!
Many of the recipes I create come from my own food cravings.
Inspiration
I woke up a few weeks ago in need of a warm, cozy comfort food meal. And not for breakfast — but for that evening.
I wanted something with rich, bold, warming flavors. And I wanted to make a project of it, because for me, the process is where part of the comfort lies.
This recipe is what began my current culinary love affair with Ancho chiles.
First, I made a smoky, rich Ancho Chile Enchilada Sauce.
Then the crispy, delicious Roasted Ancho Chile Potatoes.
And now this incredibly tasty, wonderful Chile-Red Wine-Grape Roasted Chicken
It’s definitely one of my absolute favorite new dinners.
If you’ve been following along here for a while, you know I often like to take you on a weekly food journey with a particular ingredient, exemplifying how it can be used in variety of ways, in very different meals.
What’s in Chile-Red Wine-Grape Roasted Chicken?
- red grapes
- red wine
- Ancho chiles
- fresh thyme
- butter
- shallots
- garlic
- chicken
How to make Chile-Red Wine-Grape Roasted Chicken
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Add the grapes, chiles and wine to a large sauce pot. Place it over high heat and bring to a boil.
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Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let it sit for 20 minutes.
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Remove the chiles from the pot and remove the stems and seeds. Return them to the pot and place over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.
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Use an immersion blender or standing blender to blend the sauce about half way.
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Add the thyme, turn the heat to low and simmer to reduce it by about 1/3.
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Remove the thyme, add the butter and season.
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Add the butter, shallots, garlic, 1/2 cup of reduced Ancho Chile-Red Wine Grape sauce, and salt to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Blend until it’s a smooth compound butter. Season.
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Add some of the compound butter under and on top of the skin of the chicken pieces, and place them in a large shallow baking dish.
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Roast in a 375°F oven just until the chicken is cooked through, basting it about halfway through with the juices and melted compound butter at the bottom of the pan.
How to Serve it
You will have some extra sauce once the chicken is done. You can use it to mix with rice, pasta, quinoa or another grain you like. You can serve it on the side or serve the chicken on top of it.
Like so many comfort foods, this dish is perfect for a quiet evening with family by the fire, and it’s also beautiful enough for an elegant dinner party!
Chile-Red Wine-Grape Roasted Chicken is an absolutely unbelievable meal! Filled with smoky, sweet, hearty and fresh flavors, it's as delicious as it sounds and looks!
- 2½ pounds red seedless grapes
- 1 whole bottle red wine
- 2 large Ancho chiles
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large shallot, roughly chopped
- 2 small garlic cloves
- ½ cup reduced Chile-Red Wine-Grape sauce (from above -- see recipe instructions)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 approximately (3¾-pound) whole cut-up chicken, skin-on, bone-in
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Add the grapes, dried Ancho chiles and wine to a large sauce pot. Place the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Then remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let it sit for at least 20 minutes.
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Remove the chiles from the pot and remove the stems and seeds from them. Return them to the pot and place over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes. Then use an immersion blender to blend the sauce about half way, leaving some of the grapes whole. (You can also do this in a blender, being careful not to make it too smooth.)
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Add the thyme sprigs, turn the heat to low and simmer to reduce it by about 1/3. This should take about 30 minutes.
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Remove the thyme sprigs, add the butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.
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Preheat the oven to 375°F.
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Add the butter, shallots, garlic, 1/2 cup of the reduced Ancho Chile-Red Wine Grape sauce, and salt to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Blend until it's a smooth compound butter. Season to taste with pepper.
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Now add the butter mixture under and on top of the skin of the chicken pieces, and place them in a large shallow baking pan (about 9 X 13 X 2-inches).
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Roast in the preheated 375°F oven just until the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes. Baste the chicken about halfway through with the juices and melted compound butter at the bottom of the pan.
Kim says
This is so going on my menu for NEXT weekend as I have a craving for the Curry Beef Stew from days gone by! Made a fresh batch of Curry paste last night and bought the meat…although they will both keep in the freezer. I may have to jump on the Ancho train instead! Whoo hoo!
valentina says
Kim, your comment makes me smile. Thank you. Enjoy all of these warming meals! 🙂