Million Dollar Chicken

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Description

This chicken is roasted on thick slices of sourdough bread and slathered with a creme fraiche glaze. It looks like a million dollars. When you combine the chicken with that sticky, drippings-soaked bread, you’re talking about at least a million-dollar taste.

Ingredients

  • 1 (4.5 pound) whole chicken
  • salt and ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled (Optional)
  • 1 bunch fresh thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed – divided
  • 3 thick slices day-old sourdough French bread
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup creme fraiche
  • 1 tablespoon peeled and grated shallot
  • 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
  • lemon juice, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 3 chive blossoms for garnish, chopped (Optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
  2. Season chicken cavity generously with salt and black pepper. Squeeze lemon halves into cavity
  3. then drop squeezed halves inside. Stuff cavity with thyme
  4. garlic
  5. and bay leaf. Set aside.
  6. Drizzle 1 tablespoon oil into a heavy roasting pan. Place bread slices into the pan and press lightly into oil to coat the bottoms of bread. Drizzle 1 more tablespoon oil over bread and place chicken on top. Tie legs together with kitchen twine
  7. then brush chicken with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season the entire outside of chicken with salt.
  8. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.
  9. Meanwhile
  10. mix together crème fraîche
  11. shallot
  12. and Aleppo pepper in a small bowl. Stir lemon juice and lemon zest into crème fraîche mixture. Refrigerate sauce until needed.
  13. Lift chicken off bread slices using tongs and flip bread slices over (they will be very brown). Place chicken back onto bread slices. Generously brush the outside of chicken with crème fraîche sauce
  14. putting enough on to drip down onto bread slices.
  15. Bake until sauce is browned
  16. about 10 minutes. Repeat
  17. brushing more crème fraîche sauce generously onto chicken. Bake for 10 more minutes. Remove chicken from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes. An instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh near the bone should read at least 165 degrees F (75 degrees C).
  18. While chicken rests
  19. pour remaining crème fraîche sauce into a small skillet over medium heat; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until shallot is cooked and sauce thickens slightly
  20. 1 or 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.
  21. Transfer chicken and bread pieces to a cutting board. Cut bread pieces in half crosswise and arrange them on a serving platter. Cut chicken into 8 serving pieces (drumsticks
  22. thighs
  23. wings
  24. and breasts) and place over bread on the platter. Drizzle thickened crème fraîche sauce over chicken and garnish with chopped chive blossoms.

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr 20 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins

Servings: 6

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