Chicken With 42 Cloves Of Garlic
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Another classic chicken dish from France…chicken with 42 cloves of garlic. It's supposed to be chicken with forty cloves, but 42 is a special number to anyone who knows The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Peeling all those garlic cloves is a chore, but it's definitely worth it when the garlic is cooked. And, trust me, the garlic is truly the centerpiece of this dish – perhaps even more than the chicken itself.
There are many variations of this recipe, but almost all of them use the following four steps:
- In a hot pan, brown your chicken on both sides.
- Take out the chicken and cook the garlic in the chicken juices.
- Deglaze the pan to make a sauce.
- Return the chicken to the pan, and cook it in the sauce until done.
Some recipes say to finish the final step by cooking the chicken in the oven, while others simply finish cooking it on the stovetop. We're using the stovetop method here, so the entire dish is cooked from start to finish without having to use the oven.
You don't even have to peel the garlic, but by doing so this will allow the guests to eat the entire dish without having to peel the garlic cloves themselves. And, trust me, the garlic is truly the centerpiece of this dish – perhaps even more than the chicken itself. When people first hear that this dish is made with forty cloves of garlic, their first reaction is to shy away. Won't all of that garlic give this dish an incredibly strong and overbearing garlic taste? This is where the magic happens: no, it doesn't taste like incredibly strong garlic. As the garlic cooks, the flavor becomes mellow and even sweet, while the garlic cloves themselves become so soft, they can be mashed with a fork or spread on a piece of bread like butter. And that's one of the best ways to enjoy the garlic: spread the garlic onto buttered bread, and you'll have a garlic bread like you've never had before.
As for the dish itself...
Pans needed: A large cast iron skillet or dutch oven, with a lid. If you don't have an iron lid that fits over your pan, you can use a glass lid or another lid for a pot or pan. A bowl or plate to dredge the chicken with flour.
Of course, the fun part in preparing this dish is peeling all those garlic cloves… means peeling 42 cloves of garlic by hand. There's a popular Internet trick that says to place your garlic cloves, with the skins on, in a covered container and shake them vigorously to peel them. When I tried this, I had maybe three or four peeled garlic cloves and nearly fifty unpeeled cloves left in the bowl. So, this meant the garlic cloves needed to be peeled by hand, one at a time. It actually didn't take too long.
And now it's time to bring out a heavy cast iron skillet, preferably a pan between 10 and 12 inches in diameter – and make sure you have a lid that fits on this pan! This way the entire dish can be prepared on the stovetop. Place the pan on the stovetop (without the lid) and heat it at medium to get it good and hot, while we prepare the chicken.
Most versions of this recipe say to use chicken thighs, and I do love dark meat. But I had boneless skinless chicken breasts on hand, so we dredged them in flour to create a coating. This works fine with both dark and white meat. Sprinkle on salt and pepper…and usually I'd also add garlic powder, but this recipe already has plenty of garlic. Be sure to generously season both sides of the chicken.
After about 15 minutes, the cast iron skillet is really hot. Add just a little bit of grease or oil to the pan, enough to sear the chicken but not drown it in oil. Add the chicken pieces to sear them on both sides. Just let the pieces sit for about two to three minutes, flip them over, and brown the other side for another three minutes. After browning the chicken on both sides, remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside.
At this point, prepare the sauce by adding some brandy to the hot pan. Add 1 cup chicken broth to the pan and stir it in. Now, we add all of the garlic cloves. Stir the garlic in the liquid, and cook it only for about a minute or two, until it's only beginning to brown. It's important not to burn the garlic. After only one to two minutes, when the garlic is browning, add the chicken pieces back into the pan. Top the chicken with some sprigs of fresh thyme, or sprinkle on half a teaspoon of dried thyme. Cover the pan to braise the chicken. Turn the stovetop heat to about low-medium, and let the chicken simmer in the pan for 30 minutes. Do not uncover the pan until after 30 minutes have passed.
After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the pan and prepare the garlic sauce. Turn the heat back up to medium, and mix in 3 tablespoons cream into the pan juices. Add another 1/4 cup of brandy, or you can use white wine if you prefer. Cover the pan for a five minutes to get the sauce good and hot. After five minutes, uncover the pan and add 1 cup of milk. Sprinkle some more salt and pepper, then stir it to reduce the sauce and also to keep the garlic from burning. This only takes a few minutes.
You can tell the garlic is ready when it's so soft and tender, you can squish it with a fork. That means we're done, and our chicken with forty-two cloves of garlic is ready to serve.
Oven Roasted Garlic Chicken
There are at least a hundred different ways to roast a chicken, ranging from easy to ridiculously difficult. This certainly an easy way to roast a chicken, but the result with this method is certain to be a chicken that stands out and will satisfy any dinner guest. This is a take on the classic recipe chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, though with this recipe there's no such thing as too many garlic cloves.
- As anyone who has made spatchcock chicken knows, cutting a whole chicken in half will help the chicken cook thoroughly, and in far less time. Since you don't have to worry about the chicken inside the cavity being undercooked, this is a reliable method for roasting a chicken – or a turkey, or any other poultry.
And once again, here's an essential tip on how to ensure your chicken is fully cooked and not overcooked, or undercooked: use a thermometer and cook by temperature, not by time! Whether you're using a chicken that weighs 3 pounds, 5 pounds, 8 pounds, or a Cornish hen, it will still be done when the meat temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Although cooking a half chicken will still allow the chicken to finish cooking far sooner than a whole chicken, you should still use a thermometer and be the chicken isn't overcooked.
Pans needed: Two 10-inch cast iron skillets, or one long oven-safe roasting pan.
Ingredients
- One whole chicken, cut into two halves. (Use your favorite size chicken, whether it's 5 pounds or more than that – because as long as you cook the chicken by temperature, it will be done when the meat temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.)
- Chicken rub:
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 2 teasoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons crumbled (dried) sage
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or paprika)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- At least 40 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1/2 cup brandy, separated into two 1/4 cup servings
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup cream
Prepare at least 40 peeled garlic cloves for use in this dish – though with this dish, there's no such thing as too much garlic! If you can prepare 60 cloves, either by peeling them or buying containers of peeled garlic at the supermarket, then you can certainly do so.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and place a large cast iron skillet on the stovetop – or two cast iron skillets, so you can sear both chicken halves at once. While these are heating up, cut the chicken into two halves using the following directions.
It isn't even necessary to cut the chicken in half, but I do recommend doing so. As anyone who makes spatchcock chicken will tell you, chicken halves are much easier to cook than a whole chicken, and they cook much faster. That's because you don't have to worry about the inner cavity of the chicken. Take a good set of kitchen shears, and cut out the entire spine of the chicken. Cut on each side of the spine, all the way from the bottom to the top. Once the spine is removed, set it aside for use in making chicken stock (not part of this dish). Fold open the chicken. Now, you can use a good sharp knife, or the same kitchen shears, to cut along the breastbone and cut the entire chicken into two halves.I’m a paragraph.
Lay each chicken half on your board, facing with the breast side down and the (exposed) inside facing up. Drizzle about half a teaspoon of olive oil over each chicken half, and rub it over the entire underside of the chicken. Add the rub to the underside and cover the entire underside with the rub. Now, turn the chicken over and do the same thing to the top side: rub olive oil over the skin, then rub the rub over the entire top of each chicken half.
Add about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to each cast iron pan. Place a chicken half into the each hot pan, and sear the chicken on both sides so the skin is browned. Flip each chicken half after about two minutes, so they are browned on both sides. Next, remove the chicken pieces from the pans and set them aside. Add about 2 tablespoons of brandy to each pan. (If you're using one large pan, add 1/4 cup of brandy to the pan.) The grease and liquid in the pans can now be used to cook the garlic cloves. Add the garlic cloves, and stir fry them for only about 30 seconds to a minute. This will be enough to lightly brown the garlic, and that's all we want to do. We do not want the garlic to burn! After frying the garlic for one minute, add about 1/3 cup of chicken broth to each pan. This will prevent the garlic from burning. To this, add another teaspoon or two of dried thyme, then add 1/2 cup of cream to each pan, along with some brandy. After this, chicken broth, cream and more brandy were added to the pan, the chicken halves were placed into the pan, and the entire dish roasted at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until the chicken reached 165 degrees. This took about 40 minutes. As anyone who makes spatchcock chicken will tell you, chicken halves are much easier to cook than a whole chicken, and they cook much faster. That's because you don't have to worry about the inner cavity of the chicken.
The chicken was thoroughly cooked and juicy, the white meat wasn't dried out, and the garlic cloves were soft enough to squish with a fork. If you've never had roasted garlic, you absolutely need to give this a try. The cooked garlic does not become incredibly strong garlic – just the opposite. It mellows, takes on a nutty flavor, absorbs the flavor of the chicken, and is so delicious you can just scoop them out of the pan with a spoon and eat them. Or, even better, you can spread the garlic on buttered bread with a knife or fork, for a garlic bread that can't be beat.
