Apple-Butter Barbecued Roasted Chicken

Four days. Nora is four days old and the world outside is locked and the apartment is everything. I've had two maternity leaves—one in a functioning world where my mother came over and friends dropped soup at the door and the city was a resource you could use—and this one. The city has retracted. The help is at a distance. We're doing this in four rooms and a fire escape and whatever we have.

What we have: Sean, who has not left the apartment except for groceries since Thursday, who handles Liam's needs with the same efficiency he brings to everything, who makes pancakes Saturday morning even though Saturday and every other day feel continuous right now. What we have: Liam, who has decided that his primary role is Big Brother and is executing it with surprising seriousness—he brings Nora things. Board books. His softest stuffed animal. He puts them next to her and tells her what they are. "That's a giraffe. He's soft."

What we have: Nora, who eats and sleeps and makes the sounds that newborns make, who has her brother's dark hair and Sean's ears and a face that is still settling into what it will be. I look at her the way I looked at Liam in the first weeks: with the attention of someone trying to memorize something that will change before you can finish.

I made chicken soup on Saturday—one-handed while feeding Nora, the other hand on the pot—because the apartment needed to smell like something warm and because the act of making soup is the act of taking care of what's in front of you, one pot at a time.

The soup I made that Saturday was as much ritual as it was food—something to do with one hand, something to justify the steam on the windows and the warmth spreading from the kitchen into the rest of the apartment. This roasted chicken comes from that same instinct: you coat it, you put it in the oven, and for the next hour the apartment smells like you’re taking care of everyone in it. The apple butter glaze is sweet and a little smoky, and it’s the kind of recipe that works even when you’re running on no sleep and one free hand, because once it’s in the oven, it asks nothing of you.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 15 min | Total Time: 1 hr 30 min | Servings: 4–6

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 lbs), giblets removed
1/2 cup apple butter
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 small apple, quartered (for cavity)
3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)

Instructions

Preheat. Heat oven to 400°F. Pat the chicken thoroughly dry with paper towels and place breast-side up in a roasting pan or large cast-iron skillet.
Make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the apple butter, barbecue sauce, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper until smooth.
Season and stuff. Season the inside of the chicken cavity generously with salt. Tuck the apple quarters and thyme sprigs inside the cavity—they’ll perfume the meat as it roasts.
Glaze the chicken. Brush the apple-butter mixture all over the outside of the chicken, coating the breast, legs, wings, and as much of the underside as you can reach. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of glaze for basting.
Roast. Place the chicken in the oven and roast for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, basting once with the reserved glaze at the 45-minute mark. The chicken is done when a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (not touching bone) reads 165°F and the juices run clear.
Rest and carve. Tent loosely with foil and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. This keeps the juices inside where they belong.

Nutrition (per serving)

Apple-Butter Barbecued Roasted Chicken — The Apartment Smelled Like Something Warm