Tom Hanlon's recipe for Chicken Italian

This recipe is one of my favorite comfort foods.  It is one of my favorites because not only does it taste good (really good) but because it is perfect for one of those cold and rainy nights we get here in Northern California.  There is something about browning the chicken, the oven heating, combining the ingredients, and the sound of rain tap-tapping against the kitchen window that simply make me shiver with happiness.  I cannot even begin to count the number of times I've made this over the last 30 plus years.

So below, I give you Tom Hanlon's recipe for Chicken Italian (as modified by me):

Ingredients:

• one fryer cut up (when Tom first showed me how to do this...fryers were 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds.  Today's fryer from Lunardi's was 5.16 pounds!)
• 2 tablespoons butter (today I used light olive oil)
• one eight ounce bottle of Wishbone Italian salad dressing...or use your favorite Italian salad dressing
• 2/3 to 3/4 cup of white wine
• salt & pepper to taste (or Lakeland's "Good With Everything Herbed Sea Salt)
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon tarragon
• 1/2 teaspoon or so of rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large frying pan, melt butter or heat olive oil to brown chicken
3. Brown chicken in frying pan, season lightly with salt & pepper
4. Meanwhile, combine rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl (except the rosemary)
5. When chicken is browned, place skin side down in roaster (blue granite works nice)
6. Pour combined ingredients over chicken, top with mashed rosemary
7. Bake 45 minutes at 350.
8. Then turn chicken over and bake another 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Enjoy with rice, baked potatoes, or a parmesan pasta..and a simple tossed salad.

Thank you, Tom, for this recipe that I have enjoyed over and over again...and I have to tell you that my friends (family) love it as well.