Chicken in Green Sauce

No picture, because the oven's pilot light went out (again) just as I was about to put the chicken into the oven. Despite having watched someone light the oven's pilot light before, my roommate and I couldn't find it to light it on our own--it's not in the same place as the one for the stove. So we had to call the management company, and wait for them to come light it for us, as gas seeped into the apartment. But the management people are good folks and came in only 20 minutes--enough time to get the chicken into the oven about five minutes before the guests showed up. However, it wasn't done until an hour later, so that is the long explanation of why no picture.
The sauce is adapted from Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories, my newest free-with-Lexis-points cookbook. It is extremely delicious--I cannot stop eating it (alone, on bread, on couscous, on anything). It will, however, give you terrible breath.

Chicken in Green Sauce

14 chicken parts (thighs and drumsticks), skin on or off
5 garlic cloves, chopped
olive oil, salt, pepper

Sauce:
2 large bunches cilantro, minus the stems
8 cloves garlic, chopped
juice of 4 limes
2/3 cup coconut milk
2 serrano chile peppers or more to taste
1 tsp salt
some fresh mint leaves, fresh basil leaves or 1 tsp dried basil

Put all the sauce ingredients in a food processor or heavy-duty blender and blend until a thick paste. If using a blender, you will need to stir a few times.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the chicken pieces in roasting pans. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chopped garlic. Spread about 1 tbsp green sauce over each piece of chicken. Bake for 1 hour.

Serve, passing remaining green sauce for guests to spoon onto their own chicken (and rice, bread, potatoes, straight into their mouths, etc).

Serves at least 8, with lots of extra sauce.