Yeast-Fighting Chicken

I call this "Yeast-Fighting Chicken" because it has simple ingredients that are helpful when fighting yeast (candida albicans). This recipe is really easy to make and is super yummy.

I make this in a Pampered Chef Stoneware "Deep Covered Baker." It is an expensive piece of kitchenware (about $70), but it is fantastic, and you can make so many things in it. I also like it because Pampered Chef stoneware is supposedly the only stoneware on the market that does not contain lead. (And, if you buy one using the link above, you will also be helping out an autism mom and a Lend4Health family -- Logan's from Florida.)

This recipe is basically from the Pampered Chef website, although I don't follow it anymore. If you want to use the official recipe, it is HERE and is called "Smothered Chicken with Garlic."

Ingredients
1 whole chicken ("fryer") - all natural/organic is best
1 lemon (I've made it with an apple too)
1-2 *heads* of fresh garlic
Olive oil
Herbs/spices (rosemary, sea salt, paprika, pepper, herbs de provence...)

Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. While it's pre-heating, prepare the chicken as follows...

Spread a thin layer of olive oil in your stoneware baker (on the lid too). Take the packet of giblets out of your chicken. Wash your chicken with some water. Put the chicken in your baker with the breast side up.

Quarter the lemon and stuff it in the cavity of the chicken. Now put some rosemary into the cavity (I use dried). Use some cooking string/twine to tie the chicken's legs together. Now take the wing tips and point them up and then tuck them under the back of the chicken. This part can be confusing at first, but kind of pretend like your chicken is basking in the sun with its hands behind its head. (It's already dead so you won't hurt it!)

In a little bowl, mix up your spices. I use salt, some pepper, more dried rosemary, some herbs de provence, and paprika. You can use whatever floats your boat. (And do this part before your hands get coated in olive oil, as in the next step!)

[Take off your rings now!] Put some olive oil into your hands and rub it all over your friendly little chicken. (Ooo, what a nice massage!) Now take your herbs/spices and rub them all over the chicken.

Peel the cloves from 1 or 2 heads of garlic. Yes, that is a lot of garlic! You will be using the full cloves, so you don't need to dice or crush them. I don't always have 2 heads of garlic, but use whatever you have and it will still taste good. Put the garlic cloves all around the chicken.

Cover the baker and put it in the oven for 1 hour. After the hour, take the lid off and put it back in the oven for 20-30 minutes. It's done when a meat thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the thigh reads 180 degrees F.

When it's done cooking, wait 10 minutes before carving it.

Carve it into a dish that can hold the juice too. Pour the juice and all those yummy garlic cloves onto the chicken & serve it all together.

Service
I like this with gluten-free pasta and some veggies of choice. When your pasta is ready, add some GFCFSF butter (Earth Balance), some sea salt, and some of the juice from the chicken.

Yield
This makes enough for a family of 4 plus leftovers. You can also use the carcass to make some yummy homemade chicken broth. Just throw it in a big pot of water and let it simmer all day.

Cost
The all-natural chicken cost me $10.00 at Whole Foods. The lemon cost me less than $1.00. The garlic cost me less than a dollar. And the olive oil and spices I already had in my pantry. So the total cost on the chicken is about $12.