Enjoy a succulent Coffee Rubbed Roast Chicken smothered in sweet honey stout glaze and served on a bed of carrots and butternut squash for dinner.
[Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Torakand Adventures LLC and is part of a series of recipes developed for the fictional fantasy setting of Lost Colonies, an immersive live-action roleplaying community in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. This post also contains affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links.]
Coffee Rubbed Roasted Chicken with Honey Stout Glaze
Oven roasting whole chickens is not only easy, but they make for a beautiful family meal. For something a little bit special, this version uses a spice rub made of brown sugar, coffee, and spices and is finished with a honey stout glaze that is the perfect balance of bitter and sweet. Served on a bed of fresh marjoram, carrots, butternut squash, and apples and accompanied with black forbidden rice dotted with raisins, you’ll impress any guest with this juicy and succulent chicken.
This recipe for Coffee Rubbed Roast Chicken with Honey Stout Glaze is part of a series of recipes inspired by the fictional cultures and traditions of Lost Colonies, a live action role playing experience based in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. (You can learn more about this collaboration in the first post of the series.
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Family Meals in Feldland
It is no secret that Feldland is a veritable cornucopia. From producing some of the best beef in all of Sobukand to baking beautiful multi-grain breads, a hungry visitor will never find themselves wanting in terms of variety. While I’d dined in many of the cities, it was not until my third trip through Feldland that I ventured out to seek the local food of the nomadic tribes around Casere. My local guide was reticent, all too aware of the Feldlanders’ distrust of outsiders, but eventually trusted me enough to invite me to his camp for a family meal. Inside a canvas yurt larger than many cottages in the city proper, we shared a roasted chicken rubbed down with ground coffee and brown sugar traded for to the north and glazed with a dark beer brewed by my guide’s brother-in-law. Black rice speckled with sweet raisins and foraged root vegetables rounded out our dinner, and we shared stories late into the evening.
– Excerpt from A Traveler’s Guide to Sobukand by Donla Pheinkuk
The fictional region of Feldland is the breadbasket of Sobukand. Nestled between the Dunbar and Sorfjell mountain ranges, these vast grasslands are fed by the waters of the Miceburn River running its length. With hot and humid temperatures to the north and frigid temperatures to the south, the fertile region maintains few cities, its communities preferring a more nomadic lifestyle on the whole.
Due to the extensive grassland and ample fresh water, Feldland is well known for a varied diet even among its most modest farmers. Meat is a staple, as herds of sheep, goats, buffalo, and cows have enough space to graze, and game birds and fish are easily caught along the rivers and lakes. Farmed crops include wheat, barley, rice, and oats, all of which are turned into a vast array of breads, cakes, and noodles, as well as fermented ales. The land even provides coffee beans in the north, as well as a few varieties of tea leaves. Understandably, food plays a major part in the culture, and shared meals are very important among community members.
Preparing a Roast Chicken
One of the most fervent debates among chefs and home cooks revolves around the proper way to oven roast a chicken. Trussed and stuffed, spatchcooked and grilled, low and slow or high and fast, everyone has an opinion on the best way to get juicy, delicious chicken. Personally, I’m not trying to add fuel to the fire; I just know this technique has always worked for me.
After removing the neck and giblets from inside the chicken’s body cavity, sprinkle the inside with salt and pepper and stuff it with a few quarters of apple and lemon. You can then fully truss the chicken, or you can just tie the legs together tightly and tuck the wings under the body. The important part is to keep everything as close to the body and the cavity closed as much as possible.
Using your hands, rub down the whole chicken with the mixture of coffee, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and ginger. Once it’s covered completely, let the chicken sit, uncovered, in the fridge for about an hour to let the flavors mingle.
When ready to start cooking, prepare your roasting pan. You can use a traditional roasting pan, a dutch oven, or a stoneware dish depending on your preference – the important part is to pick something that leaves as little air space around the bird as possible. Grease the pan with butter, layer the bottom with chopped vegetables and fresh herbs, and set the chilled chicken on top. Sprinkle everything with a little bit of butter, and you’re ready to start roasting!
Coffee Rubbed Roasted Chicken & Vegetables with Honey Stout Glaze
Ingredients
Roasted Chicken & Vegetables
- 1 whole chicken, giblets removed
- 2 apples, one quartered and one cubed
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 1 ½ pound butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 5 carrots, chopped
- 5 twigs fresh marjoram
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
Brown Sugar Coffee Rub
- 1 tablespoon dark roast coffee
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoon coarse salt
Honey Stout Glaze
- 1 (12 ounce) bottle of dark stout beer
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
Forbidden Rice
- 3 cups water
- 1 ½ cups black forbidden rice
- 1 cup raisins
Instructions
Prepare the Roasted Chicken
- First, stuff the cavity of the whole chicken with the quarters of apple and lemon. Truss the chicken fully, or just tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Mix together all of the ingredients for the Brown Sugar Coffee Rub and coat the chicken fully. This part might be a bit messy – don’t be scared to use your fingers. Place the prepared chicken on a plate and chill in the fridge uncovered for about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an oven-safe dish just big enough to contain your bird with one tablespoon butter (I like to use a deep stoneware casserole dish, but a dutch oven or roasting pan are good choices as well).
- Layer the squash, apple, and carrots in the bottom of the roasting dish. Top with sprigs of marjoram.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge and place it on top of the bed of vegetables. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into pieces and sprinkle them evening over the bird.
- Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. The chicken is done when juices run clear and the internal temperature is 165 degrees F. The skin should get nice and crispy.
Make the Stout Glaze
- As the chicken cooks, whisk together the Stout Glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, and then lower the temperature down to a gentle simmer until the mixture is reduced by half. Stir occasionally and keep warm.
- When the chicken is cooked through, coat with a few spoonfuls of glaze and broil the chicken under high heat for about 5 minutes for a little extra crispness.
Cook the Forbidden Rice
- Pour the rice, water, and raisins in your rice cooker or pot and cook according to package instructions. Keep warm.
To Serve
- Serve the chicken family style, on a large platter surrounded by the roasted squash, apples, and carrots. Leaving the chicken whole makes for a lovely presentation, but you can also pre-carve the chicken to make serving easier. Serve the Forbidden Rice and extra Stout Glaze on the side.
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