Garlic-Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

We had this for lunch today, in fact less than an hour ago. This may be my fastest posting time yet. It is from Simple & Delicious Nov/Dec 2008. It was quite yummy.

Garlic-Roasted Chicken and Potatoes
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp salt, divided
6 bone-in chicken thighs
6 chicken drumsticks
6 medium red potatoes (2 pounds) cut into 1-inch cubes
24 garlic cloves, peeled (that seems like a lot, huh?)(takes a long time to peel that many, too)
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a small bowl, combine maple syrup and 1/4 tsp salt; set aside. Place the chicken, potatoes, and garlic in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with butter; sprinkle with remaining salt. Toss to coat. Bake @ 400 for 40 minutes. Drizzle maple syrup mixture over chicken. Spoon pan juices over potatoes and garlic. Bake 20 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 180 and potatoes are tender. 6 servings.

So we didn't eat the garlic. But it sure smelled good. This chicken had such a good flavor. It was moist and yummy. The potatoes were not all cooked all the way, but pretty close. The funniest thing about this meal was poor Emma. She took a bite of chicken and said "My chicken has a seed in it" and I told her chickens don't have seeds. Samuel pipes in "yeah chickens have babies" and I said, "No they don't, they lay eggs, right Emma?" Because we just learned in science last week that all birds lay eggs. And she said "I am NOT eating a chicken bird." Then she started crying, before I even really said anything, and she said "I AM eating a chicken bird." I guess she didn't realize that the chicken we eat comes from the actual bird that is a chicken. This was troubling news to my 4 year old. Sam helpfully says "You like chicken nuggets don't you?" and she agreed that she did. And he said "those come from chickens, too." This may have ruined her, I'm not sure. More updates to follow. But the rest of us really liked this chicken.