Chicken with forty cloves of garlic

[sraun]

Thanks, dakiwiboid!

I'd heard of this dish a long time ago, but had never seen it, or actually read a recipe for it, until dakiwiboid posted her favorite version a month or two (or three?) back. At that point, I went, "Hey, I can make that!" - and did some hunting for alternatives.


How I made it:

60 oz. boneless chicken breasts (We'd gotten four 20 oz. packages on sale a couple of weeks ago - I maybe should have used all four.)
40 cloves of garlic
Salt
Pepper
Rosemary
Thyme

Peel the garlic. Spray the bottom of a glass 9x13 pan with cooking spray (because I'm paranoid). Put the chicken breasts in the pan, dust with spices, add garlic. Cover with aluminum foil, bake at 350 for 83 minutes. (I started checking for doneness at 60 minutes - gave it another 15, then another 8 - YMMV.) Let sit while you consume a salad, then serve. Spread the roasted garlic over slices of french bread.

I figured I wanted 3-5 pounds of chicken - if it had been closer to five, or if I'd really cared about the presentation, I would have browned the breasts before putting them in the oven.



It was wonderful! iraunink's comment was an eager "You can make this again sometime!" We had maybe three of the breasts between us (12-15 oz? - 3x20 oz packages, 4 or 5 pieces/package) - the garlic was much more tempting!

Comments

You're welcome!

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

The garlic is definitely the best part! I think it would work with leg quarters, too.

If you like garlic . . .

[elektra-h.livejournal.com]

The most wonderful garlic sauce recipe ever, courtesy of Bish Geoffrey
Had it at an SCA event once, and begged until he passed on the recipe.

Garlic Sauce

Serves approximately 50, but can easily be stretched by adding more stuff

4 or 5 bottles minced/crushed garlic
1 lg. bottle red wine vinegar
3 or 4 lg. cans cheap bread crumbs
1 jar ground fennel

Dump the ingredients in a big (preferably enameled pot - or other non corrodible like stainless steel - Not straight aluminum unless you like absorbing odd ions!) pot, except fennel which you add to the final product just until you can taste a hint of it. (about 1 tablespoon). Now add warm water while stirring until you are somewhere between a loose batter and a porridge. Heat over low flame, stir frequently; if starts to smell carbonized or black bits stir up from the bottom, turn off heat and serve before it gets worse, OR transfer to another safe pot and add water and stir over even lower heat.

Leftovers can: a) have liquid added and be reheated or b) be kneaded into a bread dough for a garlic bread from which you could plotz.

Re: If you like garlic . . .

[(Anonymous)]

These bottles of crushed garlic. Are they the little +/- 4oz type, or the huge 20-30 oz type? Cuz either would be tasty.

Re: If you like garlic . . .

[elektra-h.livejournal.com]

These would be the 4oz bottles. The utterly kewl large bottles weren't available when the recipe was put together.

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree, delish! My mother got it from a friend at least 40 years ago; glad it is still in circulation and approved by people with dietary difficulties.

[brashley46.livejournal.com]

I do more or less the same thing with thighs ... but I forget the other seasonings, and I dot the whole thing with butter or sprinkle on olive oil. No foil cover, just the lid to the Corningware casserole I use.

The garlic can be peeled easier if you parboil the cloves for about 5 seconds and then quench them in cold water ... skins slip right off.

[sraun]

My 9x13 pan doesn't have a lid, so I substituted aluminum foil. I would have used the lid if it had had one.

When you parboil the cloves - how clean/separate do you get them before tossing them in the water? All broken apart so they're individual cloves (since this is about three heads), and whatever paper comes off trivially removed?