Thursday, May 21, 2009

Chicken and garlic


This dish doesn't have a name. It's too simple. All you do is put a whole chicken breast on the bone into a casserole and spritz lemon juice over it. It has to be on the bone and it has to still have its skin on it. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are an abomination that remind me of things sold in packets of ten at the drugstore.
    So, around your skin-covered, bone-supported chicken breast go unpeeled garlic cloves--as many as you like. Be lavish with these-- I used about ten for two of us and it wasn't enough. In with those go a couple of onions, chopped into large chunks and one and a half red peppers also chunked. Then all you do is drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and stick the dish in the oven at 350 degrees. Half an hour later, stir the veggies around and return the dish to the oven. Half an hour later, pull it out and bring to the table. Meanwhile, I'd also washed a large amount of spinach, and wilted it in olive oil (the olive oil consumption in this household is shameful). That and a baguette was supper and if you think that chunks of baguette wiped around the serving dish to sop up the chicken-y, onion-y  garlic-infused olive oil were absolute bliss, you're right. Also very good (food Nazis has better not read this) is a slice of crisp golden chicken skin carefully removed and wrapped around a chunk of soft unctuous red pepper. You can also pop the garlic cloves out of their "shells" and smear the paste all over the chicken. 
   This was enough for two but seems to me it would be easy to double or triple.

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