Slow Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken
This post is a tip of the hat to the lovely Nigella Lawson for reminding us how easy preparing a delicious and beautiful supper can be. Like many people, I used to shy away from roasting a whole chicken for fear of under or over-cooking, or using too much or not enough seasonings, or otherwise ruining an entire bird white setting off an entire floor of smoke detectors (yes, again). After a lot of practice I’ve since gotten over my irrational fears, but in the beginning I started buying cut up roasters instead and I found it really gave me the confidence to finally tackle the whole bird. While there is admittedly some satisfaction in carving a beautifully roasted whole chicken, the simplicity of all these ready-to-serve-up, golden brown juicy pieces lets me keep the carving knife in the block, and lets my plate fill up a bit more speedily after the oven timer dings (ok, my oven timer “beeps”… annoyingly actually, but “dings” sounds a little more poetic and since this is a Nigella tribute, we’ll go with poetic).
This recipe that I made, and that Paul photographed, is from her Forever Summer recipes, but the lemon and thyme make this dish just as suitable to brighten up a winter day like today. Take a few minutes to read the full recipe on her site – Slow Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken.
Slow Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken
Nigella Lawson’s Slow-Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken
Click here to read the “gloriously easy” full recipe on her site
Ingredients
- 1 chicken cut into 10 pieces
- 2 heads of garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves
- 2 lemons, cut into 8 pieces each
- Fresh thyme, large handful
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 oz. white wine
- Black pepper
First, click on the link to Nigella’s recipe above and read from beginning to end to experience her lyrical genius, then proceed to assemble her lovely chicken recipe, a summary of which is below.
Pre-heat the oven to 325°F. Place the chicken, garlic and lemon in a large roasting pan. Pull apart the thyme and distribute throughout. Add the oil and mix all ingredients together by hand, coating with the oil and leaving chicken skin side up. Pour the wine over everything and finish with black pepper to taste. Cover the pan with foil cook for 2 hours. Remove the foil, increase heat to to 400°F and cook for another 30-45 minutes.