• Cooking Time: 20 to 25
• Servings: 4
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Scant 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 chicken breast halves with skin and bone (2 to 2 1/4 lb total)

1. Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in upper third.
2. Mince and mash garlic to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt, then transfer to a bowl.
3. Stir in oregano, red pepper flakes, oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
4. Cut a 2-inch-long pocket (about 1 1/2 inches deep) horizontally in side of each breast half and spread 1/2 teaspoon garlic mixture into each pocket.
5. Coat chicken with remaining garlic mixture.
6. Roast chicken, skin sides up, in a foil-lined large shallow baking pan until just cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.

Found this one in the October issue of Gourmet Magazine. Thick chicken breasts can be hard to get just right; often you're left with a too-dry, too-bland dinner. But this high-heat roasting method results in crisp, crackly skin that gives way to moist flesh, perfumed throughout by a pocket filled with herbed garlic paste. Ian Knauer