The One With All the Bumper Stickers and Apricot Chicken
Welcome to Friends with Food Episode #21! Listen here. Our guest this week is none other than our clown sibling Layla Kaufman! Layla is a drag performer bringing the weird and unusual to the stage in the SF Bay Area. As a vintage kitchenware enthusiast, cooking has become cute and second nature for her. Follow her here!
In this episode we cover Friends Season 5 Episode 21, The One with the Ball. This episode originally aired on May 6th, 1999. Ricky Martin was on top of the charts with his crossover hit Livin’ La Vida Loca! In other square-headed-hunk news, America’s Sweetheart Brendan Fraser was at the top of the box office with The Mummy!
apricot chicken
Baking it didn’t help?? The raw cat in this episode inspired me to create a roast chicken recipe! Apricot because it just feels 90s? And as Layla says on the podcast, Gary isn’t quite blond, he isn’t a redhead… he’s apricot! Please enjoy this fruity 90s bird, and don’t forget your oven mitts!
apricot chicken
for the chicken:
1/2 cup apricot jam
1 tsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, grated
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flake
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1 whole chicken, 4-5lbs
for the potatoes:
1-2lbs yukon gold potatoes
4-6 whole cloves garlic, peeled
olive oil
big pinch salt
smoked paprika
Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the jam, soy sauce, garlic, oil, salt, and spices in a small bowl. Place the chicken in a large oven proof pan. Brush the marinade generously all over the chicken, making sure it’s coated on all sides. You can also use your hands for this (feel free to wear gloves!) and really get in there!
Cut the potatoes into large chunks and nestle them around the chicken in the pan along with the garlic cloves. Drizzle potatoes and garlic with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and a little smoked paprika.
Put the chicken and potatoes in the oven and roast for about 1 hour 20 minutes. Check on the bird every 20 minutes or so during cook time, rotating the pan and mixing potatoes each time. If the chicken skin is getting too dark before it is cooked through, cover with foil to prevent further browning. You can remove the foil 5-10 minutes before taking the bird from the oven; if the skin is blackened here and there that’s alright!
When chicken is until beautifully burnished on the outside and cooked through, remove from the oven. A thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (not touching the bone) should read at least 165F. The potatoes should be tender all the way through. Let the chicken rest a few minutes before carving. Serve directly from pan with lemon wedges along side, and perhaps a big green salad.
