garlic lemon chicken
(omnivore)

recipe by mb

just the recipe

what I was looking for

I have a slight obsession (ok I'm lying, it's huge) with roasted chicken. I know that Nigella joins me in this obsession, so as soon as I got this book I flipped to the chicken section to see what she had to offer. When I came upon this ... well ... my fate was sealed.

what I made

Nigella's slow-roasted garlic and lemon chicken (Forever Summer pp. 138-139). With my own twist, of course.

chit-chat

Somehow, something went wrong. I really don't know what. I very literally followed all the instructions, with a very few little changes, so I don't understand what went wrong.

In the picture in Forever Summer, Nigella's version of this dish looks crispy and delicious. Mine was ... well ... soggy.

Anybody know what could have gone wrong? (Obviously you can wait until you've read the whole recipe to weigh in. Doing so now would be kind of silly.)

But let me also say this. The result of cooking the lemons for almost 3 hours surrounded by chicken juices was absolutely spectacular. They had lost all their bitterness, but somehow retained the sourness. The chunks, which are meant to be eaten whole, were unbelievable. I'd be interested in trying to make a version of the lemons on their own. That's how good they were.

grades for my version

healthy	B	Not much to it other than chicken, so it's not super-healthy.
fast	B	The actual prep time is very quick, but then it has to cook, which takes a while.
easy	A	It's really, really easy.
cheap	B	I'm giving this a B because even though the ingredient list is short, it's filled with expensive ingredients (chicken, fresh thyme).
delicious	C	Soggy. Damn.  But the lemons were awesome.

yield

Serves 4-6. Or 2 with awesome leftover sandwich possibilities.

equipment

   a roasting pan
   tinfoil

the dish entire

ingredients	Nigella	mb	why?
chicken	1 whole, cut into pieces	1 whole, cut into pieces (by my butcher)	no change
garlic	1 head, separated into unpeeled cloves	1 head, separated into unpeeled cloves	no change
lemons	2, cut into eighths	2, cut into eighths	no change
fresh herbs	1 handful fresh thyme	1 small handful fresh rosemary	seasonal [1]
olive oil	3 Tablespoons	3 Tablespoons	no change
cooking liquid	10 Tablespoons white wine	8 Tablespoons chicken broth	cheaper [2]
black pepper	freshly ground, to taste	freshly ground, to taste	no change
Notes
[1]	I didn't plant any thyme this year, and we haven't gotten any from the CSA, but we've been getting rosemary, so that's what I seasoned with. Seasonal seasonings. Yup.
[2]	We don't keep wine in the house, but we've always got chicken broth. I figured that it wouldn't end up tasting as good, but the chicken broth would serve the same purpose. Is it possible that this is where it all went wrong?

Preheat the oven to 300°.

   Into the roasting pan place the pieces of chicken, the unpeeled garlic cloves, and the lemon chunks.

Sprinkle the rosemary and olive oil over everything in the pan and then mix it all thoroughly, until everything is coated in olive oil.

Now pour the chicken broth over the contents of the pan and grind on as much black pepper as you think will be good.

   Cover the pan tightly with the tinfoil and place it into the oven. Let it cook for 2 hours at 300°.

Then remove the tinfoil, turn the heat up to 400° and cook the chicken for another 45 minutes, until the skin has turned golden brown.

Serve with a giant salad on the side and some crusty bread to make little lemon, garlic, and chicken sandwiches. Yum.

what I'd do differently next time

If I make this dish again (which I'd certainly like to, because I believe it has great potential) I'd skip the cooking liquid entirely. That way the only thing steaming the chicken would be the juices that it released on its own, which I'm pretty sure would be enough.

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