Jan 2 2010

I love Good Eats on Food TV. Its one of the few shows that I watch with any regularity. The first recipe for the year is slightly modified from his episode guide.

40 Cloves and a Chicken.
Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (broiler/fryer) cut into 8 pieces - I used an already quartered chicken from Harris Teeter.
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme – I used 3, my wife isn’t a big fan
• 40 peeled cloves garlic – I used 55 or so, I am a big fan. I took me 20 minutes to peel it all…
• Salt / Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. My Jenn-Airre oven seems to take about 25 minutes to preheat. It was the first time I’d ever baked anything in the oven that I was cooking (in 5 years…) and waiting for it to preheat threw off my meal time. Be warned or know your kitchen appliances

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Toss with a 2 tablespoons olive oil and brown on both sides in a wide fry pan or skillet over high heat. Remove from heat, add oil, thyme, and garlic cloves. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove chicken from the oven, let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, carve, and serve. I let it rest for closer to 20 while I prepped dinner for my 3 year old. I also had some fresh bread from Harris Teeters to go with it.

“You’re cooking more often.”

Total prep time was close to 30 minutes, oven time was 90 minutes and then another 30 to rest. The first dinner of the year was a success. Half the chicken was consumed and I put everything else including all of the delicious oil/chicken drippings at the bottom of the pan into a tupperware container and saved it for the next meal.

Original Recipe Here: link