Scarborough Fair Chicken Breasts
Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Why not! This dish has parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme - and it is delicious. (You will need a mini-chopper or a good knife for this recipe - as the herbs need to be chopped into a paste with garlic.) At most supermarkets, you can find a "Poultry Blend" fresh herb packet (sage, rosemary & thyme) in the produce department (in a small plastic package) - perfect for this recipe. Do not substitute dried herbs because that would just be wrong.
4 large split chicken breasts, with bones and skin
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Black Pepper, to taste
1 Tablespoon olive oil (or soft butter, or vegetable oil)
Handful fresh parsley, large stems removed
1 stem fresh sage (stem removed - about 6 to 8 leaves, torn)
1 stem fresh rosemary, leaves only
Handful fresh thyme, leaves only (about 2 Tablespoons leaves)
Heat oven to 375°. In a mini-chopper or food processor, whirl the garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and herbs to a paste (or pesto-like) consistency. All of those herbs will condense down to only about 4-5 Tablespoons. Run your finger under the skin to separate it from the breast meat and place one-fourth of the paste under the skin of each breast. Any paste left on your fingers can be smeared over the tops of the chicken breasts.
Place the four breasts in a baking dish and roast (uncovered) in a 375° oven for 30-35 minutes, or until cooked through.