Roast Chicken Dinner with Roasted Garlic Gravy

Photo: Roast Chicken Dinner with Roasted Garlic Gravy

TOTAL TIME: 2 hr
Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 1 hr 30 min
 
YIELD: 4 servings, plus 1 chicken for another use
LEVEL: Easy

ingredients

  • 2 (4 to 5 pound) chickens, washed and dried
  • 4 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 stick softened butter
  • 2 heads, plus 4 cloves garlic
  • 12 small potatoes, halved
  • 4 small onions, peeled and quartered, attached at root end
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling
  • 6 sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fennel seeds or fennel pollen
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 1 (10-ounce) box frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted, well drained and halved
  • 2 limes, halved
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Directions

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Liberally season the chickens, inside and out with thyme, and salt and pepper, to taste. Rub each bird with 1/2 stick of softened butter.

Cut the ends off 2 bulbs of garlic to expose all of the cloves for roasting. Put the potatoes and onions in a roasting pan, and liberally drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste. Dress the whole cut bulbs of garlic with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Press the bulbs into the rosemary leaves so that some adheres to the garlic, then sprinkle the remainder over the potatoes and onions. Put 1 chicken into this pan. Sprinkle with fennel seed or pollen. Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the chicken and put the lemon in cavity of bird along with 2 large cloves of crushed garlic. Tie the legs together with string. Add the dressed garlic heads to the pan and roast this bird for 15 minutes at 475 degrees F. Baste the bird with pan juices, then lower the temperature 375 degrees F and roast until the juices run clear, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Add the artichokes to the pan the last 20 to 30 minutes of roast time, mixing them in with the potatoes and the fennel. Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Let rest for 10 minutes and then carve. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter along with the potato mixture. Pour the pan juices over the chicken. When ready to serve, divide the roasted garlic among the plates and serve with crusty warm bread for mopping.

For the second bird, put it in a roasting pan and douse it with the juice of 2 limes, then stuff the limes into the bird along with 2 large cloves of smashed garlic. Tie the legs and roast for 15 minutes at 475 degrees F, baste, then roast 45 minutes. Remove the chicken from oven to a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, remove the chicken from bone and pull the meat into small pieces. Reserve for a make-ahead meal.

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5

Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 2 reviews

  • on October 09, 2011

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    Terrific! Roasted split chicken breast halves on the bone, which worked really well. I loved the rosemary, fennel, and faint lemon background with the artichoke hearts. The leftovers will be great for lunch plus there's enough chicken shredded up to make enchiladas suizas tomorrow. Yum.

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  • on May 16, 2011

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    Fabulous meal! The chicken was perfect (nice and juicy with beautiful crusty skin. Just a hint of the lemon, creating a wonderful balance. The potatoes, onions and garlic were nicely done along with the chicken. I couldn't find frozen artichoke hearts so I used canned medium ones, and threw them in 20 or so minutes before the end and they worked just great. :

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