Tea Jenny's Wonderful Roast Chicken

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 2 -3 lbs whole roasting chickens, well washed and drained
• 1 quart water
• 1/2 cup darjeeling tea leaves or 1/2 cup english breakfast tea leaves
• 2 inches gingerroot, peeled and sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 8 fluid ounces vegetable stock or 8 fluid ounces chicken stock
• olive oil, to coat roasting pan and to brush on chicken before roasting
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar, to taste (raw sugar)

Recipe

• 1 bring the water to a boil.
• 2 add the tea leaves and allow to infuse for 3 minutes.
• 3 strain the liquid through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl and return to the saucepan.
• 4 add the ginger, garlic, and vegetable stock, and return the liquid to a boil.
• 5 remove from the heat, discard the solids through a sieve, and reserve the liquid.
• 6 preheat the oven to 450°f.
• 7 salt and pepper the chicken inside and out.
• 8 place the chicken into a roasting pan, pour about ½ cup of the brewed tea over it and roast until the juices run clear, basting with tea mixture every 20 minutes or so.
• 9 when it is done, skim the fat from the liquid in the pan.
• 10 remove the chicken to a cutting board, carve into 8 pieces, and place on a platter to keep warm.
• 11 reduce the basting liquid to coating consistency, adjusting the seasoning as desired (this dish tastes great with a generous addition of pepper).
• 12 add sugar to taste.
• 13 strain the sauce in the roasting pan through a fine-meshed sieve and place in a heated sauceboat.
• 14 serve immediately.