Could you imagine peeling 40 fresh cloves of garlic? Some people do to make the French classic 40 clove garlic chicken. Personally, I think it's a big waste of time.
There's a lot of flavour and goodness in those garlic skins. Leave them on and make my version.
You'll be glad you did because the end result tastes better. I promise.
I love this recipe. There is a lot of extra sauce too that's fantastic poured over the chicken and perhaps a plain pasta such as spätzle like I did in the photographs here.
How to get this 40 clove garlic chicken recipe right...
The instructions are easy and straight forward. But those are just instructions.
To get this 40 clove garlic chicken as good as you get in France, it is essential that you use the best quality ingredients you can get your hands on.
Look for rock hard fresh homegrown garlic with skins that are tight. Happy free range chicken are a must.
Barn raised chickens are substandard and you will notice the difference both in flavour and texture. So stay away from barn reared chickens if you can.
If you like this recipe, you might like to try some of these too...
Normandy Seafood Stew
Easy homemade chilli con carne
Twice baked potatoes
Chicken and pork belly adobo
Portuguese Pork with paprika and white wine sauce
Recipe
Rustic 40 Clove Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 free range chicken - quartered
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- flour for dusting the chicken
- 4 - 5 branches rosemary - leaves removed
- 3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 40 cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup (250ml) chicken stock
- 1 cup (250ml) dry white wine
- 1 cup (250ml) double cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200c (400f)
- Using a spice grinder or pestle and mortar, pulverise the rosemary and thyme into a powder.
- Add the herb powder to about a cup of flour and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Dust the chicken pieces in the flour and shake off any excess flour.
- Heat the olive oil over medium high heat until bubbling.
- Brown the chicken pieces in batches in the hot oil. Be careful not to burn the flour. It's fine if it is dark brown but black is burnt and you will need to start over.
- Lower the heat and add the garlic cloves. Stir them into the oil.
- Now add the butter, chicken stock and wine and bring to a simmer.
- Place the browned chicken skin side up over the stock and place in the oven for about have an hour or until the chicken is crisp and cooked through.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and add the cream.
- Using a blender or a hand held blender, blend until you have a smooth sauce. Return to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Place the chicken back on top of the sauce and serve.
