40 (84) Clove Garlic Chicken

To celebrate Solstice, today I am making 40 Clove Garlic Chicken. It is based on a recipe my dear friend Sherri uses, with a few twists.

1 pound potatoes (I like Yukon Gold or red potatoes but any waxy kind of potato will do)
a package of carrots (for convenience, I use the pre-cleaned baby carrots)
2 large onions, sliced in wedges.
1 large cut up chicken
3-4 bulbs of garlic, separated into cloves. You needn't get all the skin off, it mostly dissolves in the cooking process. I nip off the butt end where it is hardest, and mostly leave it at that. Today I ended up with 84 cloves.

1 ounce smoky whiskey (the kinds from Isla have the strongest smoke flavoring)
about 7 leaves of sage, or 2 Tbs rubbed dry sage
a tsp each marjoram and thyme

salt and pepper.
1/2 cup wine, chicken stock or water.

Dump the clean potatoes, carrots and onion wedges in the bottom of a roasting pan.
Dump the cloves of garlic on top of the veggies.
Put the chicken in next. I like cooking the chicken when it is already cut up, but you can roast a whole chicken if you like, and put some of the garlic and herbs in the cavity.

Sprinkle the chicken with the ounce of smokey whiskey.

Add the sage. I like to put a leaf or two under the chicken skin, or if skinless, beneath the chicken.

Sprinkle on the marjoram and thyme.

Cover and roast for at least 45 minutes in a 325 deg (f) oven.
Depending on the size of your chicken, it may take an hour before it is done.
Low and slow is the way to go.

Let the chicken rest, remove the chicken and veg from the roasting pan, then pour in the white wine, chicken stock or water. Scrape up all the fond, then put all the liquid into a skillet to make gravy with.
Take the excess oil off with a spoon, but you need some oil to help the gravy thicken.
I often need to add some more chicken stock to make the gravy.

No gravy amounts or directions here. I play it totally by ear, sometimes it turns out, sometimes not. But it always tastes good, thick or thin LOL.