For those of you that have been following my blog, you may recall the one about my great-grandmother’s garlic bread stuffed roast chicken. The story goes something like this: I did not cook the chicken long enough and it ended up being raw on the underside. Did I also mention that I under-buttered, under-mayonnaised, and under-seasoned it? I knew that I did not do this family recipe any justice so I set out to get it right with good reason. I wanted to make my great-grandmother proud especially since this is one of the few recipes from my French Basque roots that exists in my family today. I don’t know much about my great-grandmother except for the fact that she was a fantastic cook and loved to wear jewelry. Even if she had no plans to leave the house for the day, she still made a point of wearing her jewels. I like her style!
I am happy to say that I have redeemed myself. I enlisted the help of my mother who has made this recipe at least a hundred times and spent the day with her learning how to make the chicken the way it was meant to be. Fortunately, the child was on her best behavior and sat in her little seat happily gnawing on a biscuit while watching me knee deep in chopped garlic and butter. To sum it up, it was a successful day and the chicken came out beautifully.
I will point out that the recipe calls for coating the bird in mayo and being generous with the use of butter on the garlic bread. This is a French recipe, remember? As my husband says, “Go big or go home.” I choose to go big with this one and recommend that you do the same. The garlic bread soaks up the delicious buttery juice and the mayo will make for the most flavorful crispy chicken skin ever. Yum!
Great-Grandma Etchegorry’s Roasted Chicken with Garlic Bread
- 1 3-4 pound roasting chicken, giblets removed
- 4 slices of french bread, preferably day old
- 1/2 stick of unsalted butter, softened
- 10 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup of mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse the chicken inside and out with cold water. Pat with a paper towel to dry and remove any excess fat. Set aside.
Remove the crusts from the french bread and cut into 1″ cubes.
Generously butter the bread cubes on all sides and press the garlic with a knife or your hands to adhere to the bread.
Stuff the cavity and neck of the chicken with the bread cubes. Don’t worry if you cannot fit it all.
Truss the chicken with kitchen twine or metal skewers. With breast side down, brush half of the mayo on the chicken. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, paprika, salt and pepper. Place chicken breast side up in roasting and repeat with remaining mayo and seasonings. Tuck wing tips under the body of the chicken.
Roast at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until the juices run clear. Serve the chicken with the garlic bread.
