Roasted Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

April 19, 2012

Roasted chicken is a classic recipe and it can 40 cloves of garlic added to the mix can only improve it. Yes, you read that correctly- you will need 40 cloves (1-2 heads of garlic) to make this glorious garlicky chicken. In a Dutch oven, garlic cloves are lightly browned before the chicken is added with fresh spring of thyme. While the chicken roasts, the garlic absorb all the juices and become tender and mellow. When your roast chicken is ready, reserve those roasted cloves and spread them on soft Italian bread. 40 cloves of garlic roast chicken is sheer pleasure and delight.

40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

1 fryer Chicken, cut into pieces- toss out the junk parts
40 cloves give or take, of garlic. Peeled, but otherwise intact
8 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/2 cup (plus a little more) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 loaf of fresh Italian Bread

Directions:

Take a good sized Dutch Oven or frying pan with metal handle - the whole thing will go in the oven eventually, so it needs to be metal, not plastic. Cast Iron if that's your thing.

Add a little oil to the bottom (enough to coat bottom of pan), heat to medium high (or high if you're capable of paying close attention to what you're doing - hopefully your ADD is weaker than mine...ooh shiny!).

Brown your chicken on both sides to a nice golden brown color. Salt and pepper lightly as you're cooking.

Remove from heat.

Evenly distribute your 40 peeled cloves of garlic around and upon your browned chicken parts.

Toss your fresh thyme on top of the chicken, scattering it somewhat evenly.

Drizzle your remaining olive oil on top of the chicken, tilting pan a little back and forth to cover everything well.

Shake about 1/4 tsp salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Cover the whole thing up, and toss into the preheated 350 degree oven.

Forget about it for about 1-1/2 hours.

Try not to drool on yourself as your house starts to smell like garlic heaven.

When 90 minutes have passed, cruise back into the kitchen, and pull your pan out of the oven.

Remove the chicken from the pan, placing onto a serving platter. Toss it's friend, the roasted garlic tribe, onto the serving platter with it. They like each other.

Turn oven up to "BROIL".

Take your slices of italian bread and spread them out evenly on a cookie sheet.

Using a pastry brush, glaze the top of the italian bread generously with your oil, that is now infused with garlic and thyme.

Toss in oven - pay attention to it so you don't burn it (this would be tragic) - and, once it's golden brown, pull it out of the oven, flip it all over, glaze the dry side, and toss back in for a couple minutes to brown the newly glazed side.

Serve this bread, along with the fabulously yummy garlic infused chicken, and guess what else is yummy? That garlic that you transferred onto the platter? That stuff is as soft as butter, and for you NOT to take the cloves and spread their sweet roasted garlicky goodness onto the bread before you eat it would be blasphemy.