Chicken with 40 garlic cloves

Don't be alarmed by the copious amount of garlic used in this dish, the garlic cloves when gently sweated in olive oil, morph into sweet nutty morsels with a deceptively mellow flavor.

Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic is a traditional French bistro dish. There are numerous recipes for this chicken and garlic dish, some are utterly simple, others are really time consuming. Different herbs can be used, sometimes the chicken is whole and sometimes cut into pieces, but the number of the garlic cloves is always constant!

It’s definitely one of my favorite dishes as the sauce is just fantastic, packed of flavor, and for a garlic lover it is just perfect. 

  

Ingredients (serves 8):  
2 chickens, each 4 lb., cut into 8 serving pieces 
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil  
40 garlic cloves, peeled 
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary 
1 tbsp minced fresh thyme  
zest of 2 lemons 
1/4 cup white wine 
3/4 cup chicken stock  
3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces 

Preheat an oven to 400°F (200ºC).

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a wide Dutch oven pan, over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Working in batches, brown the chicken, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Add the garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the chicken, rosemary, thyme and lemon zest and stir to combine. Cover the pan, transfer to the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Baste the chicken with the accumulated juices. Continue roasting, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes more.

Transfer the chicken to a platter; leave the garlic in the pan. Cover the chicken loosely with aluminum foil.

Set the pan over medium heat and mash the garlic with the back of a spoon. Add the wine and cook for 3 minutes. Add the stock and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the butter a few pieces at a time. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary. Transfer the sauce to a sauceboat. Serve the chicken immediately and pass the sauce alongside. 

  

Poulet aux 40 gousses d'ail

Ingrédients (8 personnes):
2 poulets, d'un kilo 1/2 chacun, coupés en 8 morceaux
sel et poivre noir selon goût
3 càs d'huile d'olive
40 gousses d'ail, pelées
1 càs de thym haché
1 càs de romarin haché
zeste de 2 citrons
60 ml vin blanc sec
180 ml de bouillon de poulet
40 g de beurre à températue ambiante, coupé en morceaux

Préchauffez le four à 200ºC.

Assaisonnez les morceaux de poulet de sel et de poivre. Faites chauffer l'huile d'olive dans une cocotte allant au four  et faites dorer les morceaux de poulet, 2 à 3 mn de chaque côté. Réservez.

Dans la même cocotte, ajoutez les gousses d'ail et faites cuire 1 mn en remuant. Hors feu, ajoutez les morceaux de poulet, le romarin, le thym et le zeste de citron. Mélangez. Couvrez la cocotte et enfournez pour 20 mn. Arrosez le poulet avec les jus accumulés et continuez la cuisson à découvert, jusquà ce que le poulet soit cuit, environ 30 mn de plus.

Transférez les morceaux de poulet sans les gousses d'ail dans un plat, et couvrez de papier aluminium.

À feu moyen, placez la cocotte et écrasez les gousses d'ail avec le dos d'une cuillère. Versez le vin blanc, et laissez mijoter 3 mn. Ajoutez le bouillon et remuer jusqu'à épaississement de la sauce, environ 5 mn. Ajoutez les morceaux de beurre. Assaisonnez, si nécessaire. Servez le poulet avec la sauce.

Source: Adapated from William Sonoma