Rule Breakin' Chicken

Today I will be breaking a cardinal rule of food blogging and will share with you, verbatim, a recipe blogged elsewhere. Why do I debase myself so? Well, I'm doing it for you, of course! This recipe, from none other than the esteemed David Lebovitz at http://www.davidlebovitz.com/, is just so darned easy and delicious to boot that it practically begs for rule breaking. (As an aside, if you don't already read David's blog, you should, especially if you, like I, enjoy stories of expat life in Paris accompanied by lots of chocolate and ice cream.)

I halved the recipe and used just chicken thighs rather than a whole chicken and it turned out just fine (although if you cook smaller portions you might cut down on cooking time a smidge--after 40 minutes my shallots were a tad more than caramelized if you know what I mean).

This is the perfect dish for anyone who's pressed for time or just too darn lazy to cook. And it's great with a size of lemony orzo and asparagus salad, which I should blog about too but I'm just too darned lazy.

Here's David's recipe...Enjoy!

Roast Chicken with Caramelized Shallots
Serves 4 to 6

Adapted from French Farmhouse Cookbook (Workman) by Susan Herrmann Loomis

I use a whole chicken cut into eight pieces; two legs, two thighs, and I cut each breast piece in half, crosswise, keeping the wings attached. You could also just use eight of your favorite chicken pieces.

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 large shallots, peeled and minced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
One whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
one generous handful of coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC).

2. In a large baking dish, one which will hold all the chicken pieces in a single layer, mix the olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, shallots, and some salt and pepper.

3. Toss the chicken in the mixture, so they're completely coated with the shallots. Turn the chicken pieces so they are all skin side up.

4. Roast the chicken for about twenty minutes, until it starts to brown on top. Turn the pieces of chicken over. Scrape any juices and shallots over the chicken that may be clinging to the pan, and bake for another twenty minutes, or until the pieces of chicken are cooked through and the shallots are well-caramelized.

5. Remove from oven and toss in the chopped parsley, then serve.