Roast chicken is a huge hit in my house, but honestly sometimes I don't want to wrestle with a whole bird. On busy weeknights I also don't always have the time to roast a whole bird, and this recipe has come to my rescue a few times. It's so simple-just a bit of butter in a pan, herbs, garlic, shallots, and chicken. The butter makes the chicken skin go crispy, the shallots caramelize, and the herbs add tons of flavour to the meat. Served with pan drippings and roasted potatoes, it was a meal my family devoured and declared delicious. The meat comes out so full of flavour, and if there's leftovers we either turn it into sandwiches, chicken pot pie, or even soup. Yum.
Speaking of chicken, you need to enter this contest to win $100 gift card to Overwaitea with the Chicken Squad. If you head over to their site, you can also win a Weber BBQ and tickets to a really awesome barnyard bash. I'll be there, too!
Ingredients:
one 3 lb chicken, cut into pieces (you can buy them already cut up at the store)
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
6 medium shallots, cut in half and peeled
8 large garlic cloves
leaves stripped from 10 sprigs of thyme
leaves from 8 sprigs of rosemary
coarse salt and pepper
Directions:
Turn the oven on to 425 F. Place the butter into a 9x13 inch pyrex baking dish and put it in the oven to melt, checking on it and swirling around the bottom of the pan. Put the shallots, garlic, rosemary and thyme in the pan and give it all a good swirl to coat. Swirl the chicken pieces in the buttery herbs, turning to coat. Leave them skin side up in the pan and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
Bake the chicken for about 40-50 minutes, until cooked through. Once the chicken is cooked through (juices run clear) remove the dish from the oven and let sit on the stovetop for a bit. Remove the pieces to a serving dish along with the shallots and garlic pieces. Skim the fat off the juices and serve alongside the chicken pieces to drizzle over top.
Adapted from Fine Cooking
