Roasted Spiced Chicken and Montepulciano

We roasted a chicken, it happens many weekends in this house.  We roast the chicken, roast all kinds of veggies and are sure to make a soup of some sort out of chicken bone broth.  It's a cold weather tradition.

This time, we grabbed inspiration from the Ottolenghi boys.  I met them at a cooking demo and book signing with Chatelaine Magazine and have been excited to try a few things with sumac all over them.  Their love and affection for sumac was so much so that I went out and bought a big bottle.  

1 big organic chicken chopped into pieces, and mix the peices in a bowl with 2 thinly sliced red onions, 2 crushed garlic cloves, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, 1.5 tsp of all spice, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of sumac, 1 lemon thinly sliced, and 1 cup of stock or water.  Let this marinate in the fridge for a few hours, even overnight if you want.
Arrange the chicken (and everything else in the bowl) onto a baking sheet, skin side up.  Sprinkle with 2 big tablespoons of Zatar.  Put in the oven at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes (until chicken is cooked through).
While the chicken is in the over, melt 4 teaspoons of butter in a frying pan and add 4 big spoonfuls of pine nuts.  Roast the nuts, stirring constantly, until they are golden brown.  Dump them in a bowl lined with paper towel to absorb extra butter while you wait for the chicken to be done.
Plate the chicken with all the goodness also in the pan, and top with toasted pine nuts and a handful of torn parsley.

 We roasted some carrots and potatoes with honey and sumac as a side, and did a delicious salad with 1 cup of quinoa (we mixed black and white), 1 pomegranate, a handful of feta and a handful of raw pumpkin seeds, drizzled with olive oil, squeezed with the juice of half a lemon, and also a sprinkle of lemony delicious sumac.
You won't regret buying a bottle of sumac, I promise.  Nor will you regret roasting anything with sumac, especially a big old organic chicken for sunday supper.

PALAZZO VECHIO VINO NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO 2007
This Tuscan wine was a present from some good friends a few months ago. It's been in our kitchen cellar and I've been eager to pop it for a while. It is a Sangiovese based blend that is required to age in oak barrels for 2 years (three years would make it a Riserva.)

This Tuscan wine (Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano) is often confused with another wine from a different region in Italy called Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, which is a red wine made from the Montepulciano grape in the Abruzzo region of east-central Italy. 

Leave it up to the Italians to make this wine world even more confusing than it already is.

Regardless of its namesake, requirements or appellation control, this is a great wine for a dish with such aromatic spices. The wine is filled with red berry fruits, spices, lemon, minerals and flowers. It also has some nice chewy tannins that make it drink above its class. This one is available in the LCBO.

VINTAGES #348532 | 750 mL bottle  Price $ 23.95 

bon appetit.
dinner is served.