Freekin Fab Forty Clove Chicken, TBO, Apple pie

Yes This is one of our TBO recipes. Whats a TBO? ...well its a TASTE BUD ORGASM.
Yes. Your mouth..just can't STAND it...and you have to give it up.

Twenty years ago Hub and his sister made a chicken stuffed with 40 garlic cloves. I recreated it last night. I Cleaned the chicken well. I wish I would have had the time to kosher it (cover it with salt and let stand for a couple hours then rinse off) but I didn't.
SO
We recently got a JUG o' Garlic from Gordon foods. This is THE WAY TO GO BABY!--they are cleaned, not in oil or anything. Beauties!! I stuck a small onion in the neck of the chicken, coated the garlics with Olive Oil and added a bunch of Rosemary. I stuffed the scrawny birds FULL of Garlic cloves. I even tucked a couple cloves under their little Chicken wings so they have Garlic armpits!! There are a lot of recipes floating around out there, James Beard doesn't use whole chickens, he uses thighs and legs, but most use Thyme, Or Rosemary. ("[This is] a Provençal recipe that I taught for years in my classes," Beard said, "and one that never failed to astonish the students because the garlic becomes so mild and buttery when it's cooked through!")


I put both birds in a TALL oversized pan.
Do yourself a favor...INVEST in Restaurant grade pots and pans. You will never go back!
I sealed the pan with saran wrap (we buy the large commercial type at Gordons-its cheaper, is thicker and WONDERFUL-and lasts about a year).

Then, I put the Pan lid on. I sealed THAT lid with foil.
One other option that was done way back in the day before foil-is to Seal the pan lid with biscuit dough. You want the pan SEALED so the steam is pushed back into the meat, and infuses its wonderfulness throughout. (ITS OK TO USE SARAN WRAP IN THE OVEN AT LOW TEMPS...REALLY TRUST ME ON THIS!!)
I baked it at 275 for about 4 hours, but then it needed another hour at a higher temp....it got Golden deliciously brown, and the garlics When its done right...are mushy.Make a PRODUCTION out of the unveiling of the Meat. ITS A SHOW!!! Have everyone leaning in to SMELL the wonderousness that you created!!
Be sure and have a loaf of french bread to MASH the mushy garlics on. The juice makes wonderful gravy for those mashed tatos you made, or the thick homemade noodles. Live life on the edge--throw a couple of those bad boy garlic cloves in with your sauce.

THEN for dessert, I made "Ree's apple pie". I cheated and just used store bought crust, made my middle girl do the topping. I have so got the girls trained, I just told her what to start to do and she did it without knowing what we were making. I"m a Mean mom like that!! She cut in the flour and butter like a pro, was confused when I added the brown sugar and oats! TRY THIS PIE. It is VERY good. And don't skimp out on the nuts (I used walnuts instead of pecans because that is what I had) and DON'T miss out on the Caramel dressing!!! My family is NOT big on desserts, we usually have such great main meals we don't' eat dessert. BUT THIS!! Plus we added that kind of Ice Cream with the brown Nilla bean flakes it it!! YUM . This EVERY member of my family said needs to go into our family cookbook. That..and the Garlic chicken.

http://thepioneerwomancooks.com/2007/12/scrumptous---and_i_do_mean_scrumptous---apple_pie.html