Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic

I have watched Ina prepare this dish numerous times and I’m finally going to prepare it for Christmas dinner.  Since we are having Dawn’s Mac n’ Cheese, I thought it would be appropriate to have Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic something light that will pair

Ingredients:

• 3 whole heads garlic, about 40 cloves
• 2 (3 1/2-pound) chickens, cut into eights
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 3 tablespoons Cognac, divided
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

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 plate and continue to saute all the chicken in batches.  Remove the last chicken to the plate and add all 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 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 tablespoons 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.

This recipe is wonderful.  Amazingly, there is no overwhelming flavor of 40 cloves of garlic; they really mellow out beautifully in this recipe.  I doubled the recipe for the sauce because my family loves extra sauce. Finishing the sauce with cognac and cream makes it better.  My whole family loved it and they went back for seconds.

Ciao for now!!!