Back To Garlic - With Chicken

This is not my photo - and clicking on it will take you to the Toque Tips article on preparing, using  Romertopfs, as well as some awesome recipes:

Isn't that beautiful?

You've never heard of Romertopf? Don't worry, I hadn't either until several years ago. I read about roasting a chicken in one and was sold on the idea.  I mentioned it to my well-versed-in-cooking daughter - who bought me one. I believe it is the Classic "Standard" on this page. Definitely big enough for six, as I roasted a hen in it last night.

Umpteen years ago, my Dad made a chicken stew that used 20 uncut cloves of garlic. It was delicious and the garlic's flavor was unique - not like mincing garlic at all. Besides - I love garlics, as I've shown.  But I wasn't doing much cooking then as I had to do company travel. (ASIDE: Sort of like that past three years when Beloved Husband and I were spending more time with doctors/hospitals/tests and none with our 42 group - which disbanded when our hostess had open-heart surgery. That happens as our generation ages.) And, I never got the recipe from him.

Every once in a while since then, I've checked out multiple garlic clove chicken recipe. For one reason or another, I didn't follow up - and this weekend I was going to fix a meal for my daughter, her husband and two of their grandchildren. What better time to run across a 40 garlic clove chicken recipe!!

Naturally, I changed the recipe. Remember - DO NOT PREHEAT OVEN. That's part of the Romertopf instructions. Here's what I used for ingredients:

1 Roasting hen
2 garlic bulbs (approximately 20 cloves - I should have bought more)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (yes, my spice cupboard is limited)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I had bottled, fresh would be better)
Romertopf Classic for six

Rinse the chicken, pat dry, salt and pepper the interior to your taste. Separate and peel the garlic cloves - do not cut. Prepare the Romertopf bottom with its water bath. Place the garlic cloves in a bowl, sprinkle with olive oil and poultry seasoning, then place in a single layer in the bottom of the damp Romertopf. Add the hen and sprinkle with the lemon juice.

Cover and place in the COLD oven. Turn heat to 475 degrees and set your timer for 75 minutes. When the timer goes off,  remove the Romertopf, take off the top, check for doneness and browning. If you wish the chicken skin browner, return bottom to oven for another 10 minutes. Be very cautious - the clay pots are very hot and should not come in contact with anything cold until they cool down or they will break.

Trust me, the roasted garlic cloves will taste great. Don't ignore them.  There will be broth to use as you please - I saved it to make chicken and dumplings the next day since there was enough left over chicken to fix for just the two of us, using Betty Crocker's Bisquick dumplings recipe.  Nice to be able to utilize leftovers quickly.

A couple of notes - our great-granddaughter liked the roasted garlic, using as a spread. Our great-grandson touched his tonque to a clove and determined the texture did not meet his standards. Not a problem, we also roasted ears of corn, steamed carrots, had a tossed salad - and made Papa some instant mashed potatos. May I remind you how great Janet Wilson's carrots are?!!