Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an amazing French chicken dish which gets most of its flavor profile from garlic. It is buttery and “smooth” tasting. Surprisingly, the garlic does not overwhelm the taste of this dish as cooking it makes it mellow. It only elevates the taste of the chicken. This makes a great side dish for steamed veggies, rice or mashed potatoes. This dish is quick to make as the oven does most of the cooking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

(1) 1 Whole Chicken (See Note 1)

(2) 40 Cloves of Garlic (See Note 2)

(3) 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

(4) 1 Bay Leaf

(5) A Few Sprigs of Thyme

(6) 1/2 Cup Dry White Wine or Sherry

(7) 1/2 Cup Chicken Broth

(8) 1 Tablespoon Butter

(9) Salt and Pepper to taste

NOTES:

(1) In place of a whole chicken, you can use 8 – 10 pieces of chicken like the thighs or drumsticks. If you are using a whole chicken, try to cut the pieces into even sizes so they cook uniformly.

(2) Though the recipe calls for 4 cloves of garlic, you do not necessarily need to count the garlic cloves. 3 large garlic bulbs should suffice. In this recipe, I have used some roasted garlic in addition to raw garlic to elevate the taste of the dish even further. You can learn how to roast garlic here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROCEDURE:

(1) Cut, wash and dry the chicken pieces and season them with salt and pepper. You can also choose to season the chicken when browning in step 3 below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

(3) In a heavy bottomed pot (which is oven safe), heat the olive oil and brown the chicken on both sides, skin side first. This can be done in batches so as not to overcrowd the pot. Take out the browned chicken leaving the oil residue and brown bits in the pot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIP: When browning chicken (or meat), make sure you place the pieces in a single layer in the pot. Do not try to forcefully release it from the base of the pot. When the chicken is brown enough, it will release easily from the pot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4) Place the garlic in the pot and saute them for about 5 minutes, or until lightly brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(5) Place the bay leaf and thyme sprigs in the pot along with the white wine and chicken broth. You can tie the thyme sprigs together in a bouquet garni to make them easier to remove later. You can use about a teaspoon of dried thyme leaves if you do not have fresh thyme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(6) Return the chicken to the pot along with its juices, cover the pot and place the chicken in the preheated oven. Cook for 30 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered to brown the chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(7) After 40 minutes, take the pot out of the oven and remove the chicken into a separate dish. Discard the thyme sprigs and the bay leaf.

(8) Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash the garlic together as much as you like. Place the butter in the sauce and mix it to combine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(9) Return the chicken to the pot. Serve warm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS RECIPE:

Shrimp in Wine and Garlic Sauce. Recipe here