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I have sufficiently emerged from the haze of gluttony that enveloped me after eating a plateful of Twenty Garlic Chicken to report on the cooking and eating experience.
I used four skin-on chicken thighs and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and paprika. I hadn't cooked with paprika before, so I was overly conservative with it and couldn't taste it in the finished dish. Next time I'll try more. I experimentally stuffed a strip of bacon under the skin of one thigh. It didn't season the meat as much as I'd hoped, but was a nice ingredient addition to the whole. Next time I think I'll try layering a few strips of bacon into the dish.
The vegetables I used were five (very small, like fingerling) quartered purple potatoes, two halved leeks, a quartered yellow onion, three chopped small-ish carrots, twenty cloves of garlic, a chopped and peeled parsnip, and a chopped and peeled turnip. (I wasn't sure if one should leave the skins on the latter two, so I didn't. Everything was tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, brown sugar, and dried rosemary. I buried the leeks beneath the other vegetables lest they burn, then set the chicken atop the whole. I turned over the chicken and tossed the vegetables mid-way through cooking-- which took over an hour, not 45 minutes, but perhaps the rack wasn't close enough to the top of the oven.
The result was stupendous. After tasting, I sprinkled on some salt, which the chicken needed more than the vegetables, and dug in. The flavors and textures were varied but complementary: the turnips were soft and slightly bitter, the parsnips were sweetish with a fibrous core, the carrots were nicely caramelized, the potatoes strongly potato-flavored, the onions tender and sweet, the leeks and garlic almost melted in texture, the chicken meat a bit dry but the skin crisp, and the bacon adding a good savory counterpoint. It was incredibly comforting, and even looked good with the golden-white-green-orange-purple palette. It seemed the kind of dish that should be served in England or New England, some place that has bitter winters.
As a bonus, the kitchen smells great and I didn't dirty a ton of dishes making it. However, despite using organic chicken, the chicken thighs were not that flavorful. Generally, I don't think American chicken is very flavorful. I think I'll try using duck the next time. Where the heck can I find duck in Los Angeles? It's not at supermarkets, nor at the handy Japanese market.
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oyceter also wrote about making this. She also found the chicken bland, and-- coincidentally-- also used purple potatoes. I always just put the garlic clove under the heel of my hand and lean on it-- that loosens the skin without crushing the clove.
I used four skin-on chicken thighs and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and paprika. I hadn't cooked with paprika before, so I was overly conservative with it and couldn't taste it in the finished dish. Next time I'll try more. I experimentally stuffed a strip of bacon under the skin of one thigh. It didn't season the meat as much as I'd hoped, but was a nice ingredient addition to the whole. Next time I think I'll try layering a few strips of bacon into the dish.
The vegetables I used were five (very small, like fingerling) quartered purple potatoes, two halved leeks, a quartered yellow onion, three chopped small-ish carrots, twenty cloves of garlic, a chopped and peeled parsnip, and a chopped and peeled turnip. (I wasn't sure if one should leave the skins on the latter two, so I didn't. Everything was tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, brown sugar, and dried rosemary. I buried the leeks beneath the other vegetables lest they burn, then set the chicken atop the whole. I turned over the chicken and tossed the vegetables mid-way through cooking-- which took over an hour, not 45 minutes, but perhaps the rack wasn't close enough to the top of the oven.
The result was stupendous. After tasting, I sprinkled on some salt, which the chicken needed more than the vegetables, and dug in. The flavors and textures were varied but complementary: the turnips were soft and slightly bitter, the parsnips were sweetish with a fibrous core, the carrots were nicely caramelized, the potatoes strongly potato-flavored, the onions tender and sweet, the leeks and garlic almost melted in texture, the chicken meat a bit dry but the skin crisp, and the bacon adding a good savory counterpoint. It was incredibly comforting, and even looked good with the golden-white-green-orange-purple palette. It seemed the kind of dish that should be served in England or New England, some place that has bitter winters.
As a bonus, the kitchen smells great and I didn't dirty a ton of dishes making it. However, despite using organic chicken, the chicken thighs were not that flavorful. Generally, I don't think American chicken is very flavorful. I think I'll try using duck the next time. Where the heck can I find duck in Los Angeles? It's not at supermarkets, nor at the handy Japanese market.
oyceter also wrote about making this. She also found the chicken bland, and-- coincidentally-- also used purple potatoes. I always just put the garlic clove under the heel of my hand and lean on it-- that loosens the skin without crushing the clove.