Maple-Roasted Chicken — The Glaze That Caramelizes Without Burning

Easter. Smaller than usual, just the three of us — and Tom Whelan, who I drove to church and back because he shouldn't be driving himself and because not going to Easter mass would have been harder on him than any virus risk. Father Brannigan gave the mass to a nearly empty church, his voice the same cadence as always, the same words in the same order, the ritual doing what ritual does: holding a shape when everything outside it is shapeless.

I made the Easter ham. Honey-glazed, scored in the diamond pattern, cloves in the crosspoints. The same ham Mom made when I was growing up and that I've been making for the last several years since I started doing the cooking on holidays. She makes the sides, I make the centerpiece. It works. The ham came out right — the glaze caramelized without burning, the meat stayed moist, the score marks went deep enough to let the glaze in.

After lunch Tom and I sat on the porch while Mom and Dad napped. He told me about the 1968 flu pandemic, which he'd lived through as a young man. He said it had been bad in Billings — he'd been working at a feed store and watching people get sick quickly. But life had continued. The horses had kept needing shoes. The cattle had kept needing care. He said: The work saves you. The work has always saved the people with work to do. I wrote that down when I got home. Tom Whelan says things that deserve to be written down.

Received a letter from Linda Owens this week. She'd been baking more since everything shut down, she said. Sent me her recipe for honey cake, which is a Midwestern thing I didn't know well. I'll make it this week. There's something about receiving a recipe in the mail that the internet cannot replicate. The handwriting. The small oil spot on the card from where she wrote it near the stove.

The honey-glazed ham I made that Easter is something I’ve written about before and will probably write about again — it’s the dish that, more than any other, feels like carrying something forward. But for those who want to put a glazed, caramelized centerpiece on a small holiday table without a full bone-in ham, this Maple-Roasted Chicken — the same logic, the same patience, the same reward when the oven does its work — is the one I’d point you toward. Tom Whelan would say the work saves you; I’d say a good roast, properly tended, is a version of that same saving.

Maple-Roasted Chicken & Acorn Squash

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 10 min | Total Time: 1 hr 25 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 lbs), patted dry
• 1 medium acorn squash, halved, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch wedges
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat. Heat oven to 425°F. Let the chicken sit at room temperature for 15 minutes while you prepare everything else.
2. Make the glaze. Whisk together the maple syrup, melted butter, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and cinnamon in a small bowl until combined. Set aside.
3. Season the chicken. Rub the chicken all over — cavity included — with olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and the black pepper. Place breast-side up in a large oven-safe skillet or roasting pan.
4. Prepare the squash. Toss the acorn squash wedges with a drizzle of olive oil and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Arrange them around the chicken in the pan.
5. Roast and baste. Brush the chicken generously with about half the maple glaze. Roast for 30 minutes. Brush with remaining glaze, turn the squash wedges, and continue roasting 35 to 40 minutes more, until the juices run clear and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F. The skin should be deep amber and lacquered.
6. Rest. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and tent loosely with foil. Rest for 10 minutes before carving. The squash can stay in the pan to keep warm.
7. Serve. Arrange carved chicken and roasted squash on a platter. Spoon any pan drippings over the top before bringing it to the table.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 31g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 590mg