GARLIC ROASTED CHICKEN IN A CLAY POT:

“Simple, simple, let your ingredients work together-this is cooking not a chore.   Salt and pepper, fresh vegetables and herbs from your garden, a few spices now and again but nothing overpowering because cooking is a relationship.  Just remember most of your ingredients could go it alone, but the right mix will make you sing”.   That was Big Ma, lecturing over the “first Sunday bird” like some sorceress in an apron, but she was right, she always was.

I like a simple roast chicken, no oil, not too many spices, just tender, brown, floating in garlic, seasoned with salt and pepper and a little paprika for color.  My secret is a clay pot, unglazed, well used, soaked in cold water for 15-20 minutes.   Now, Big Ma used her cast iron roasting pan that needed two people to get it into the oven.    Times have changed, so where ever she is, I hope she’ll forgive me. I start with the largest chicken I can find because this bird is not just for one meal, there are the leftovers to think of; chicken salad, chicken croquettes and there is usually enough for chicken hash for breakfast once you get close to the bone. Nothing is wasted. I buy the freshest garlic I can find:  big, plump heads that are heavy and dense.   There is nothing quite like the garlic roasted from this dish.   The cloves have a sweet, mellow flavor and are delicious spread on toasted sourdough bread or in a sun-dried tomato and garlic dip.  
I repeat; nothing is wasted.   Enjoy!

GARLIC ROASTED CHICKEN IN A CLAY POT   (serves 4-6)
Prep time – 20 minutes
Cook time – 1 ¼ hours
Total time – 1 ½ hours

10 heads of garlic plus 12 peeled cloves
1-2  T kosher salt
2 t black pepper
1 t paprika
5-7 lb. roasting chicken
Medium to large unglazed clay pot

Instructions:
Wash the chicken in cold water and pat dry with paper towels, inside and out.  Soak the pot (top and bottom) in cold water for  15-20  minutes. While the pot is soaking, combine salt, pepper and paprika in a small bowl.
Smash garlic into cloves, peel 12 cloves for inside the chicken.  Tuck the wings behind the neck.

Sprinkle the chicken inside and out with the salt mixture and put the peeled garlic cloves inside the cavity. Remove the clay pot from the cold water   and layer the unpeeled garlic cloves in the bottom.  If you see

space, you aren’t using enough garlic.   Place the chicken on top of the garlic, sprinkle with paprika.  Cover and put on the lower rack of a cold oven.   Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.   If you don’t see the garlic swimming in a golden broth, return chicken to oven for another 15 minutes.    

NOTE: When removing your baker from the oven, please remember to keep it off cold surfaces, sudden temperature changes will cause it to crack.

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