Forty Garlic Chicken Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the Dutch oven and brown on all sides in the butter and oil, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the chicken to a cutting board.
• Drain all but 2 tablespoons of liquid from the pan; stir the garlic cloves into the reserved liquid. Return the chicken to the pan; sprinkle the water, lemon juice, salt, thyme, and black pepper over the chicken; cover tightly.
• Bake the chicken in the preheated oven until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 90 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh should read 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove the chicken from the oven, cover with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes before slicing.

Steps:

• When I was young, this old French classic was still - though in a quiet way - very much in vogue. I dare say it was because the novelty of using so many garlic cloves had not worn off; it seemed somehow dangerously excessive. Even so, I don't think anyone would think it quite unremarkable now to put 40 cloves of garlic in a casserole. Certainly, if you peeled and chopped - let alone minced - the garlic, it would be inedible, but garlic cloves cooked encased in their skins grow sweet and caramelly as they cook, like savory bonbons in their sticky wrappers, rather than breathing out acrid heat. This is a cozy supper, not a caustic one.
• This dish entered my canon under someone else's auspices. A few years ago, for the fortieth birthday of a then-colleague and friend of mine, Nick Thorogood, his partner asked everyone to contribute something written expressly for purpose to be compiled in a fat tribute of a book. Since most of Nick's and my conversation dwells, with almost fetid passion, on food, it seemed only proper to write a recipe for him. And given that it was his fortieth birthday, this seemed the right recipe.
• It is not quite the classic version (not that there is only one: food is as variable as the people who cook it) but it sticks to the basic principles. Maybe because the white meat on chicken tends towards the utterly tasteless these days, I prefer to use not a whole chicken, but thigh portions only. Naturally, this wouldn't make sense if you were raising your own chickens, then slaughtering them for the pot, as was the custom when this recipe came into being (and very good it would have been, too, for adding oomph to an old bird) but if you're following the contemporary shopping model, it works very well. For some reason, I veer towards recipes that can easily be cooked in one of my wide and shallow cast-iron Dutch ovens and this fits the bill perfectly.
• By all means, add some steamed or boiled potatoes alongside if you wish, but I'd prefer, by far, a baguette or two to be torn up and dunked into the flavorsome juices; though don't rule out the option of sourdough toast, which is the perfect vehicle for spreading the sweet-cooked garlic onto. Otherwise, some green beans or baby peas or a plain green salad is all you need for a sure-fire salivation-inducing supper.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat the oil on the stovetop in a wide, shallow ovenproof and flameproof Dutch oven (that will ultimately fit all the chicken in one layer, and that has a lid), and sear the chicken over a high heat, skin-side down. This may take 2 batches, so transfer the browned pieces to a bowl as you go.
• Once the chicken pieces are seared, transfer them all to the bowl. Finely slice the scallions, put them into the Dutch oven and quickly stir-fry them with the leaves torn from a few sprigs of thyme.
• Put 20 of the unpeeled cloves of garlic (papery excess removed) into the pan, top with the chicken pieces skin-side up, then cover with the remaining 20 cloves of garlic. Add the vermouth (or white wine) to any oily, chickeny juices left in the bowl. Swish it around and pour this into the pan too. Sprinkle with the salt, grind over the pepper, and add a few more sprigs of thyme. Put on the lid and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.
• Make Ahead Note: Chicken can be browned and casserole assembled 1 day ahead. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. Season with salt and pepper and warm the pan gently on the stovetop for 5 minutes before baking as directed in recipe.
• Making Leftovers Right: If I do have any chicken left over - and I don't think I've ever had more than 1 thigh portion - I take out the bone then and there and put the chicken in the refrigerator. Later (within a day or two), I make a garlicky soup, by removing the chicken, adding some chicken broth or water to the cold, jelled juices, placing it over a high heat and, when that's hot, shredding the chicken into it and heating it through thoroughly, till everything is piping hot. You can obviously add rice or pasta. Otherwise, mash any leftover garlic into the concentrated liquid (which will be solid when cold), chop up some leftover chicken, and put it all into a saucepan with some cream. Reheat gently until everything is piping hot, and use as a pasta sauce or serve with rice.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place garlic in a medium bowl; cover with another same-size bowl, creating a dome. Hold bowls together tightly, and shake vigorously until skins are loosened, about 30 seconds. Remove and discard skins; set garlic aside.
• Place chicken in a large ovenproof skillet or roasting pan. Rub all over with 1 tablespoon butter; season with salt and pepper. Add thyme, garlic, and remaining tablespoon butter to skillet.
• Roast, basting occasionally with juices and stirring garlic, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh (avoiding bone) registers 165 degrees, 45 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a platter, and let rest 10 minutes. Carve chicken, and serve with garlic and pan juices.

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F)
• Season the chicken with the salt, pepper and mixed herbs. Set aside.
• Heat some oil in a large pan and sear the chicken for about 10-15 minutes evenly on each side, until golden brown.
• Take the chicken out and set aside.
• Add the shallots and cook down in the remaining juices for about 5 minutes over a low-medium heat.
• Add the garlic cloves and gently cook them for about 2 minutes.
• Pour in the vermouth or white wine and gently cook so that it reduces slightly.
• Add the chicken, parsley sprigs and tarragon, followed by the chicken stock.
• Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
• Serve with crusty bread and vegetables of your choice.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Separate the cloves of garlic and drop them into a pot of boiling water for 60 seconds. Drain the garlic and peel. Set aside.
• Dry the chicken with paper towels. Season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat the butter and oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. In batches, saute the chicken in the fat, skin side down first, until nicely browned, about 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Turn with tongs or a spatula; you don't want to pierce the skin with a fork. If the fat is burning, turn the heat down to medium. When a batch is done, transfer it to a plate and continue to saute all the chicken in batches. Remove the last chicken to the plate and add all of the garlic to the pot. Lower the heat and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, turning often, until evenly browned. Add 2 tablespoons of the Cognac and the wine, return to a boil, and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pot with the juices and sprinkle with the thyme leaves. Cover and simmer over the lowest heat for about 30 minutes, until all the chicken is done.
• Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the sauce and the flour and then whisk it back into the sauce in the pot. Raise the heat, add the remaining tablespoon of Cognac and the cream, and boil for 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste; it should be very flavorful because chicken tends to be bland. Pour the sauce and the garlic over the chicken and serve hot.

Steps:

• Put the oil in a shallow dish and add the chicken pieces; coat evenly with oil.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a heavy 6-quart casserole, combine the celery, onions, parsley and tarragon. Lay the oiled chicken pieces on top. Pour on the vermouth. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a dash of nutmeg. Tuck the garlic cloves in and around the chicken pieces. Cover the casserole tightly with aluminum foil, then the lid. Bake 90 minutes without removing the lid.
• Serve chicken, pan juices and garlic cloves with French bread. Diners should squeeze the buds of garlic from their husks onto the bread, then spread the garlic like butter.

Steps:

• Soak top and bottom of 3 1/4 quart clay cooker in water about 15 minutes; drain.
• Line bottom and sides of cooker with parchment paper.
• Combine olive oil, garlic and herbs in cooker.
• Rinse and pat dry chicken reserving neck and giblets for other use.
• Place chicken over garlic mixture.
• Drizzle with lemon juice.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Place covered cooker in COLD oven.
• Set oven at 475 degrees F.
• Bake until chicken is tender and juices run clear when thigh is pierced, about 1 1/4 hours.
• Remove cover; bake until chicken is crisp and brown.
• 5 to 10 minutes.
• Carve chicken and spoon cooking liquid over chicken.
• Serve with garlic and french bread.