This was the baked chicken I was raised on. Throughout my childhood, I disliked intensely the sour taste of vinegar. Wouldn’t eat pickles, wouldn’t eat pickled vegetables, wouldn’t eat salads or even condiments that contained vinegar. But man, when my mom made this baked chicken, I just could not believe I watched her douse it with such an “evil” ingredient and LIKED IT!!! The natural red grape sugar in the red wine vinegar caramelizes under high heat and gives the chicken skin such a sweet, tangy taste. The pan juices make a lovely gravy/baste for the drier breast meat. Fortunately, my taste has changed over the years and I will now consume vinegar without hesitation, provided the food isn’t drowning in vinegar. 🙂
This recipe can be used on a split/butterflied/spatchcocked chicken as pictured, or you and cut the chicken up into pieces. This method is delicious on Rock Cornish Hens, too. It is also excellent for BBQ’ing of the chicken, and even for BBQ pork. This recipe is perfectly suited to all phases of Atkins, Keto diets, Primal and Paleo as well.
SAUCE INGREDIENTS:
6 T. melted butter
3 T. red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt (omit if using salted butter)
1/4 tsp. coarse black pepper
THAT’S IT!!
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 400º. Place butter in baking pan (I use a metal pan) as the oven is heating up. Remove pan and add red wine vinegar to the butter, as well as the salt and pepper. Prepare the chicken. You can either split the chicken up the back with kitchen shears and spread it out as shown above, or cut the bird up into quarters or single pieces. Using a brush, baste the pieces of chicken all over. Sprinkle lightly with the salt and pepper and pop into hot oven for about an hour (less time for smaller birds, a little more for the butterflied bird shown) or until golden brown and reaches internal temp of 170º at the joint where the thigh meets the torso and in the thickest part of the breast. I like to baste the chicken once or twice during cooking for the tastiest result on the skin. I’m a skin fan, so that’s real important to me. My husband just rips it off and hands it to me. That works out just great, huh? 🙂 Remove from oven and serve at once with your favorite sides. Be sure to put a spoon or brush into the pan for diners to baste their meat with the buttery juices if they wish (or pour the juices into a gravy boat).
NUTRITIONAL INFO: These numbers are for the baste/sauce only. You will have to add in the values for whatever pieces of chicken you eat. Makes enough for 10 pieces of chicken (1 whole l cut-up chicken). Each portion of the sauce, assuming you even eat that much of the sauce, has:
62 calories, 6.9 g fat, 0.02 g carbs, 0.00 g fiber, .02 g NET CARBS, 0.13 g protein (add in your piece of chicken)
Buttoni's Low-Carb Recipes 