nosh

In anticipation of Halloween, Alton Brown did a show all about garlic and vampires, in which he taught "The Count" not to be afraid of garlic.  Yes, it was hokey as hell - classic Alton Brown - but the recipe is ridiculously easy and very tasty.

Instead of a whole cut-up chicken, my grocery store had chicken thighs on sale for $0.73/lb, so this was also a steal to make.  Although I trimmed the skin on the thighs, I'm going to try it next time skinless, since there's no need for the additional fat, given the amount of olive oil in the recipe.  I used dried thyme as well, and a large (14" diameter) deep skillet, but if your frypan/skillet couldn't go into the oven, I think this would be fine to first brown it on the stovetop, then pop everything into a baking dish in the oven.  Given the ease of this recipe, it might make a good addition to a buffet dinner.  Either way, your kitchen will be filled with the delicious aroma of roasted garlic.

I served the many cloves of garlic over the chicken and on the side.  They were delicious spread on slices of fresh French bread.

Most time-consuming part of this recipe was simply skinning cloves from two large heads of garlic.  Once you separate the cloves, give each a light smash with a mallet or side of a broad knife to loosen the skins.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (broiler/fryer) cut into 8 pieces
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme
• 40 peeled cloves garlic
• Salt and pepper

Directions