Sasha's Kitchen: Balsamic Glazed Chicken

I haven't posted in a couple days and I have such a backlog of things to post and new recipes to share. I made a fabulous cake for a dinner party (three layer chocolate peanut butter) that I have to post soon and can't wait to share - as you can tell, I was really happy with how it turned out.

I had a friend visiting from Toronto a week or so ago, and made this balsamic chicken recipe for the first time. I was inspired by Mario Batali's balsamic chicken from Simple Italian Food, but had an entirely different take on it. I did use his idea of combining the wine with the vinegar, and doing a glaze after cooking though I did not stuff the bird the way he did.  Like Mario, I served my balsamic chicken with a bit of grilled radicchio. I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, since I abandoned Mario's recipe and went with my own. Turns out, it was actually a meal that we really enjoyed.

Sasha's Balsamic Chicken
1 whole organic chicken, cut up
4 T chopped rosemary
 3 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cups zinfandel wine3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 heads radicchio
1/2 bag of organic baby carrots
8 oz mini organic chicken sausages

Combine the rosemary, sea salt and garlic, and add to the pot with the baby carrots and several tablespoons of olive oil.  Saute on medium high heat for about five minutes.  Add the wine and 1/2 cup of the balsamic vinegar, as well as the chicken and sausages, and bring to a boil on the top of the stove. Remove from heat and place in an oven preheated to 475 degrees. Roast covered for an hour and ten minutes, or so, until the chicken is cooked, but juicy. While the chicken is cooking, grill the radicchio with a bit of olive on a grill pan. Glaze and drizzle the chicken with the remaining vinegar and serve with the carrots and radicchio.