Is Engagement Chicken an urban legend?
I can’t really answer that. A fashion editor at Glamour magazine developed the recipe and passed it to a co-worker in 1982. The coworker made the dish for her boyfriend, and he proposed within a month. Other women in the office got their hands on the recipe, and three more were engaged soon after!
In 2003, the magazine ran the recipe and called it “Engagement Chicken.” Letters began to pour in from women claiming they were engaged shortly after cooking the dish for their boyfriends! The recipe is now featured in the cookbook 100 Dishes Every Woman Should Know.
Here’s the recipe. For my readers not yet engaged, if you make this chicken and he proposes, contact me immediately! I would love to feature you on the blog.
Engagement Chicken, via here.
Serves 2 to 4
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken (approximately 4 pounds)
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, plus 3 whole lemons—including 1 sliced for garnish
- 1 tablespoon kosher or coarse sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- Fresh herbs for garnish (4 rosemary sprigs, 4 sage sprigs, 8 thyme sprigs, and 1 bunch fl at-leaf parsley)
1. Position an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the giblets from the chicken, wash the chicken inside and out with cold water, then let the chicken drain, cavity down, in a colander for 2 minutes.
2. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place the chicken breast-side down in a medium roasting pan fi tted with a rack and pour the lemon juice all over the chicken, both inside and out. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper inside and out.
3. Prick 2 whole lemons three times each in three different places with a fork and place them deep inside the cavity. Chicken cavity size may vary, so if one lemon is partly sticking out, that’s fine. (Tip: If the lemons are stiff, roll them on the countertop with your palm before pricking to get the juices flowing.)
4. Put the chicken in the oven, lower the oven temperature to 350°F, and roast, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Using tongs or two wooden spoons, turn the chicken breast- side up. Insert a meat thermometer in the thigh, and return the chicken to the oven and roast for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the meat thermometer reads 180°F and the juices run clear when the thigh is pricked with a fork. Continue roasting if necessary. Keep in mind that cooking times in different ovens vary; roasting a chicken at 350°F takes approximately 18-20 minutes per pound, plus an additional 15 minutes.
6. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. And here’s the secret: Pour the juices from the roasting pan on top of the sliced chicken— this is the “marry me juice.” Garnish with fresh herbs and lemon slices.
I love that this photo was found on the Tory Burch website.
Perhaps as a test, I will cook Engagement Chicken for my husband. Maybe I’ll get a diamond for Valentine’s Day!
