My Grandmother’s "Fancy Chicken" The Straw Hat Way

My clearest memories of my beloved grandmother (and first best friend) mostly revolve around food. I remember having tea and cookies with her in her garden (where no one else was allowed to go) or butter brickle ice cream while we were watching a movie together.

My grandmother was a wonderful cook. I don't know for sure, but I imagine when she was much younger she had dinner parties for friends, like we do, and served all of her favorite dishes. One dish I remember clearly is her "Fancy Chicken". Now that I am older (and hopefully wiser) and more comfortable in the kitchen, I have been able to take some of her terrific dishes and make them our own. And this one is no different.

Noni's Fancy Chicken calls for a whole chicken (we get ours from a local farm that raises meat birds), olive oil, butter, a little wine and a metric ton of garlic. I remember every time my grandmother would make this dish for a special occasion, an aunt or an older cousin would be cajoled into "helping with the garlic". I think I was about five or six years old the first time I offered to help. I was met with a grateful chuckle and told that I could help count the cloves to make sure they were right. "A supervisor of sorts". That suited me fine.

One thing that Noni's Fancy Chicken has always needed, in my humble opinion, is herbs. While this dish is similar to our Straw Hat Whole Roast Chicken, its flavor, presentation and method are different. I find this dish to actually be a lot easier. There's no carving at the end of the cooking, no heavy, hot, slippery, beautifully cooked bird to move to a cutting board. And it won't heat up your house the way roasting a chicken always seems to do.

So without further reminiscing about the sweetest grandmother to ever be, here's our recipe. I love you, Noni.

Fancy Chicken - Makes 4-6 servings

1 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature
1-2 teaspoons Straw Hat Farm Herb Salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 head of garlic, separated and cloves peeled
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock or canned broth

1. Season chicken liberally with herb salt. Heat a deep, nonreactive skillet over medium- high heat, and add oil and butter. When fats are hot, add chicken (skin side down) and cook until skin turns an even, golden brown color, about 5 minutes. Work in batches, if necessary, and be careful not to burn the skin. Turn pieces and brown them on other side for an additional 5 minutes.
2. Reduce heat to medium. Bury garlic cloves under the chicken to make sure they settle in one layer at bottom of skillet. Saute, shaking or stirring pan frequently, until garlic is lightly browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Add wine and stock, scraping bottom of pan.
3. Cover and continue cooking until juices run clear when a thigh is pricked. Serve chicken with garlic and pan juices.

We eat this with rice or roasted potatoes and a nice salad with our homemade vinaigrette.

Note: If you are using pre-peeled garlic (looking at you, cousins) you will want to use 10- 12 cloves of garlic. You may want to smash them first to release their flavor.