Heirloom Oven-Baked Chicken With Lots of Garlic

Submitted by Oolala

"Sun-Sentinel, Feb. 28, 2008. It was adapted from the San Francisco Chronicle. I don't want to lose it. It was called Grandmother's Oven-Baked Chicken but I wanted to distinguish it a bit. Here's what the blurb says "In this recipe, a Pirie family heirloom, chicken is studded with garlic and slowly baked in butter until it almost falls off the bone. We find the chicken more succulent with the skin on but it works fine without. Whichever way you make it, this recipe is addictive and will fill your home with the smell of slow-baking garlic- be sure to serve the caramelized garlic pieces too. This chicken is also excellent served cold for a picnic.""

 

• Ready In: 1hr 40mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 2 small heads of garlic
• 4 large chicken legs
• 4 large chicken thighs
• 1 -2 tablespoon kosher salt
• black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
• 2 1⁄2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons water
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Separate garlic cloves, peel, and cut lengthwise into slices about 1/8 inch thick, remove any green sprouts inside garlic.
3. Put chicken on a large platter and season liberally with salt and pepper.
4. Pierce surface of each chicken piece four times with the tip of a small paring knife big enough to insert a garlic slice into each.
5. Insert the garlic and reserve any of the leftover pieces of garlic.
6. Combine the parsley, oregano and breadcrumbs in a wide bowl.
7. Put flour in a separate wide bowl.
8. In a third bowl, big enough to dip the chicken in, use a fork or whisk to whip the eggs with 2 tbs. water until well blended.
9. Melt the butter in a 9 X 13 inch baking dish by placing it in the oven for a few minutes.
10. Meanwhile, dredge each piece of chicken in the flour, then the egg, then the the breadcrumb mixture.
11. When the butter melts, remove the dish from the oven with a potholder and nestle the chicken pieces in the warm butter, arranging pieces to fit tightly.
12. Tuck in any leftover garlic pieces, large or small.
13. Bake chicken 45 minutes on the middle rack, then carefully turn each piece of chicken and bake 35 more minutes, or until the chicken is well browned and crisp on the edges; remove from oven and let cool slightly.