Few foods more reliably hit the spot on a Sunday night than roast chicken. It’s as nutritious as it is comforting, pairs perfectly with any vegetable side, and makes great leftovers for the week ahead if you don’t have a family to feed. This savory rendition, adapted from “Sunday Best: Cooking Up the Weekend Spirit Every Day,” gives this classic a savory twist by allowing it to first bathe in a garlicky marinade of stout beer and soy sauce (or tamari if you’re avoiding wheat). Serves 4-6. – Susan Puckett Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) bottle of Guinness or other stout beer
1 tablespoon fish sauce or Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon ground white or black pepper
6 to 8 garlic cloves, minced
2 large white or yellow onions, sliced in ¼-inch rounds
1 (3- to 4-pound) whole chicken, cut in serving-size pieces
1 cup soy or tamari sauce
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature Instructions 1. In a large bowl, combine the beer, fish sauce or Worcestershire sauce, pepper, garlic, ½ cup of the water, and half of the sliced onions (reserve the other half).
2. Add the chicken pieces, skin-side down. Cover the bowl with plastic and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and.
preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
4. Arrange the unmarinated sliced onions on a large, rimmed sheet pan.
5. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, pat them dry with paper towels, and place them skin-side up in the center of the sheet, on top of the onions. Rub the butter over and under the skin.
6. Add 1/3 cup of water to the baking sheet and transfer to the oven.
7. Roast for 20 minutes, baste the chicken with its juices, and continue roasting 10 to 20 minutes longer or until the skin is deep brown and crispy, and a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of a breast piece.

Susan Puckett is an Atlanta-based food writer and cookbook author.