Garlicky Roasted Chicken with Garlic Jus on Garlic Toast

Garlicky Roasted Chicken with Garlic Jus on Garlic Toast

Source: CHOW
By Regan Burns

Guaranteed to keep unwanted interpersonal contact at bay. Or you may want to think of it as the dinner partners' ultimate expression of you-and-me-against-the-world love. Garlic, garlic, and a side of garlic. We suggest a simple green salad on the side or after the meal.

What to buy: You'll need 3 heads of garlic for this recipe.

Game plan: We learned from Judy Rodgers of Zuni Café that salting the chicken up to one day in advance makes for crispy skin. It really does work, so feel free to give the chicken a liberal sprinkle a day before you cook!

This recipe appeared in our 2007 Valentine's Day: Love and Hate story.

TIME/SERVINGS

Total: 1 hr 35 mins

Active: 35 mins

Makes: 2 to 4 servings

INGREDIENTS
For the garlic paste:

    * 1 head garlic (about 20 cloves), peeled and coarsely chopped
    * 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, coarsely chopped
    * 1/2 teaspoon salt
    * 2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

For the chicken:

    * 1 (3-1/2- to 4-pound) whole chicken
    * 2 heads garlic, one whole, the other separated into cloves and left unpeeled
    * Extra-virgin olive oil, for tossing with the garlic and oiling the chicken
    * 10 sprigs fresh thyme
    * 1/2 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
    * 1 celery stalk, cut into 3-inch pieces

For the garlic jus and garlic croutons:

    * 2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
    * 1/4 cup dry white wine
    * 1/2 loaf day-old pain au levain or other crusty white bread, halved and cut into 1-inch-thick slices
    * 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    * 1 to 2 raw garlic cloves, peeled and halved

INSTRUCTIONS
The garlicky part:

   1. Heat oven to 450°F. To make the garlic paste, mash together the chopped head of garlic, thyme leaves, salt, and olive oil. Season with pepper.
   2. Remove the bag of giblets from inside the chicken and discard everything but the neck. Rinse the chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Season well with salt. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to stuff.
   3. Remove the first two sections of the wing, leaving the third bone attached. Reserve wings with the neck. Carefully slide your fingers underneath the skin on each breast, thigh, and at the neck to loosen the skin.
   4. Evenly distribute the garlic paste under the skin and inside the chicken cavity. Slice off the top of the whole head of garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and rub with a little olive oil. Place garlic inside the cavity with 5 sprigs of the thyme. Truss the chicken with kitchen twine. Rub the skin with olive oil, and season well with salt and pepper.
   5. Toss the unpeeled garlic cloves, lemon wedges, celery pieces, and remaining thyme sprigs with about 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and mound this mixture in the center of a roasting pan. Place the chicken on top of the mound, breast side down. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.


The roasting part:

   1. Roast chicken for 15 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven and turn the bird breast side up. Toss reserved wings and neck with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and scatter in the roasting pan.
   2. Return the pan to the oven and reduce heat to 375°F. Continue roasting for 25 more minutes. In a small bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth with wine and pour over chicken. Continue roasting until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165°F, about 15 to 20 minutes more. Remove from oven.
   3. Place chicken on a carving board and allow to rest while you finish the jus. Remove lemon wedges from the roasting pan and discard. Pour contents of the roasting pan into a small saucepan and add remaining 3/4 cup chicken broth. Take garlic head from the chicken's cavity and place in the pan. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, skimming away the fat as it rises to the surface. Strain this mixture, reserving several of the whole garlic cloves to serve with each portion. Keep warm.

   4. Brush the bread slices with olive oil on both sides. While you carve the chicken, toast the bread in the oven until it's nice and crisp. Cut the chicken into serving pieces.
   5. When the croutons are toasted, rub the surface of each with the cut end of a raw garlic clove.
   6. To serve, place a crouton in a shallow bowl and top with a piece of chicken. Pour some jus over top and garnish with several of the reserved cooked garlic cloves. Serve extra garlic toasts on the side.