Chicken in Milk

I'm a big fan of Jamie Oliver. I was a fan of the show "Food Revolution" and am an even bigger fan of his recipes. I've had my eye on this particular recipe for a while. I had the day off yesterday and decided to make it. Then, later, I realized that I had absolutely none of the ingredients for it except the salt & pepper. So, off to the grocery store I went.

I think you need to make this chicken. Like right now. It's tender, juicy, and has amazing flavor. The meat practically falls off the bone. This picture below doesn't do it justice, but I think it does a decent job showing the beautiful color you get on the chicken from browning the chicken before the braise. Try not to let the bad picture sway you away from the recipe.

Chicken in Milk

Recipe by Jamie Oliver, ever so slightly adapted

Serves 4

Prep Time - 5 minutes

Cook Time - 1 hr, 45 min

INGREDIENTS

1 3-lb chicken

salt & pepper

1 stick butter

1/2 cinnamon stick

handful fresh sage leaves

zest of 2 lemons (I used one)

2 cups milk (I used 2%)

6 cloves garlic, skin left on

4-5 sprigs thyme (i added)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Use a dutch oven or small roasting pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Season the chicken with salt & pepper and brown on all sides. Set the chicken aside and pour the butter from the pan into a bowl (The original recipe says to throw it out but I saved it for basting).

Put the chicken back into the pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Bake for 1 1/2 hrs. (I covered it with foil for the first hour and then took the foil off and baked it uncovered for the last half hour).

Baste with the cooking juices a few times (I basted 4 times total, rotating basting with the juices and the leftover melted butter).

Carve the chicken and serve with the sauce from the pan, if desired. We didn't do this because we thought the chicken was too wonderful on its own.