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Garlic Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
  2. Completely dry the skin of the chicken with paper towels. Set it on paper towels on a plate.
  3. Pour a little olive oil in a metal baking pan, ideally one that’s smaller than 9x12.
  4. Cut the head of garlic in half latitudinally, and place it in the cavity of the chicken.
  5. If any liquid has pooled on the chicken’s skin, dry it again. Arrange the wings so that the tips are tucked behind the shoulders.
  6. Place the chicken in the pan on your small spot of oil, breast-side up.Move it around to distribute the oil evenly on the entire pan-facing surface of the chicken.
  7. Pour a small amount of oil on the top of the chicken and spread evenly over the entire surface of the breast, legs, sides, and wings. Do not let it pool.
  8. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and herbes de province.
  9. Bake for 2 hours at 375ºF.

You should find that the chicken skin is evenly bronzed and all the fat has rendered out of it. It’s best to serve this dish immediately; that skin will get steamed from the inside within a few minutes, rendering it flaccid (though still delicious). If you’re not serving this immediately, and don’t plan to show it to other people, the maximally enjoyable way to consume that skin is to pluck it off the chicken straight out of the oven, and eat it yourself. This is also great practice in developing your chef’s hands.

The garlic can be scooped out of the two halves of the garlic head and used as a garnish for the chicken, or mixed with a side dish like mashed potatoes or sautéed greens.

You should also find that your pan has a layer of precious fond on it: big gobs of sticky, beautiful, caramel-like chicken flavor concentrate. I highly recommend remmoving the chicken to a plate, putting your pan on the stove, and making a gravy from this fond. If not, then at the very least you should endeavor to save it for a future sauce.

If you make a gravy, use white wine, butter, and thyme; you can also add some or all of the garlic that was roasted inside the chicken.