Chickens
By Cat, Jan 2009 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
See also: 1. Poultry & Fowl Menu; 2. Roasting a Bird;
I was looking through my cookbooks for a different way to bake chicken pieces, a different flavor, and this just caught my taste buds.
Not familiar with potatoes lyonnaise, I looked it up to learn it is potatoes cooked in butter with onion and parsley. My idea to add cream makes it more like Potatoes Dauphinoise without the cheese.
Chicken Roasted with Potatoes Lyonnaise
This recipe is adapted from 365 Ways to Cook Chicken, by Cheryl Sedaker (1) – a book that was a gift from my Mom, something that she got for donating to some cause. This is for a half-chicken (no back/neck pieces); if you make this using meaty pieces from a whole chicken, double the ingredients and use a larger Pyrex baking pan.
The original doesn’t include cream, but I thought it would be a good addition with the potatoes. Because of this, I only baked at 325° instead of the original 350°F, and of course this takes a bit longer.
Adding the fresh asparagus at the end is also a good addition.
Serves 2.
Ingredients & Equipment:
- Meaty chicken pieces for ½ chicken (1 each drumstick, thigh, wing, and a half-breast, cut in half again, crosswise; breasts brined
- 3 Tbsp melted butter, plus extra for basting
- 1 -2 garlic cloves
- ⅓ tsp dried thyme
- unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
- 2 medium-large Yukon gold potatoes
- ½ large onion
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream, optional
- Equipment:
- large bowl (for brining breasts)
- small bowl 9” square Pyrex baking pan (or 13″ x 9″ rectangular Pyrex baking pan if you double the recipe)
- pastry brush
Method:
- Brining (optional): I recommend brining chicken breasts for 30 minutes, adding some thyme to the brine.
- Roast: Preheat oven to 325°F (or 350°F if not using cream). Lightly butter bottom of baking pan.
- Peel and slice garlic and crush through a press (reserve what didn’t go through the press). Mince parsley; melt butter. Combine with thyme in a small bowl and keep warm so the butter doesn’t solidify.
- Slice onion thinly. Peel potatoes and slice thinly, then arrange in slightly overlapping layers in prepared pan. Scatter onion over potatoes, with the reserved garlic that didn’t go through the press. Drizzle cream over, just enough to moisten the potatoes – not enough to cover.
- Carefully push some of the buttery garlic-herb mixture between the skin and the meat of each piece, then arrange skin-side down on top of the potatoes; brush with some of the buttery mix, then season with salt and pepper (no salt on breasts if they were brined. Then turn pieces skin-up, brush and season again.
- Place pan in oven and bake about 60-75 minutes until chicken is done, basting every 20 minutes with remaining garlic butter (add more melted butter as needed.
Testing
5/26/12: Made as written, using cream. Added fresh asparagus spears for the last 20 minutes of roasting, placing them on top of the chicken pieces. This was very good, worthy of serving company, and the asparagus is a nice addition. However, I think I put too much cream on the potatoes, so I modified the amounts under ‘ingredients,’ accordingly (was 3 – 4 Tbsp; I reduced to 2 Tbsp)
References:
- 365 Ways to Cook Chicken, by Cheryl Sedaker
