Forty Clove Chicken

This is a take on the traditional french chicken that calls for 40 cloves of garlic. I used bone-in, skin on chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken. But if a whole chicken is on sale this week by all means do the whole chicken. I made sure the garlic cloves were placed under the chicken breasts so that they wouldn't burn during the cooking process.

Serves 6

6 bone-in, skin on chicken breasts
3-4 garlic bulbs, cloves separated and the skins removed(you can also buy the whole cloves already peeled if you prefer)
several sprigs of fresh thyme
1 stick butter, melted
salt and pepper

Spray the bottom of a baking dish with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 450. Place all of the garlic cloves and 4 whole thyme sprigs in the bottom of the baking dish. Season the under side of each piece of chicken with salt and pepper. Arrange it in the baking dish, skin side up. Remove the leaves from the rest of the thyme and finely chop. Drizzle the butter over each chicken breast. Season with salt, pepper and the thyme leaves. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in a breast registers 155 degrees. Remove them from the oven and cover with foil for 15 minutes before serving. Strain the cooking liquid of fat and reduce to make a sauce if desired.