Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic 🇫🇷

This classic French dish featuring lots of garlic is traditionally cooked with a whole chicken.  I use chicken thigh portions with their skin on and bones in which guarantees every bite to be flavourful and moist.  Team it up with the best quality garlic you can find - 40 gloves of it, but there is no peeling or chopping involved, thanks heavens.  Whole cloves go in to roast slowly with the chicken until their flesh becomes so soft that it starts to ooze out of the caramelised skin, infusing the meat with sweetness.  The aroma wafting from the oven as it cooks is amazing.

Note: Unhappy with the quality of imported garlic and the price of the local varieties, I grew my own in three large garden tubs last year with the most satisfying results. (See photo on the left.)  Homegrown is worths the effort!

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 heads good quality garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.2kg / 2lb 10oz chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on
• 5-6 spring onions, chopped
• 8-10 sprigs fresh thyme
• ¼ cup white wine
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

1. Separate heads into 40 cloves of garlic.  Remove the papery excess but do not peel.
2. Heat oil in a shallow casserole pan over medium high heat until hot.  Brown the chicken, skin-side down, in 2 batches until golden.  Flip to brown the other side.  Transfer to a plate.
3. In the same pan, add spring onions and half of the thyme and sauté with the residual oil over medium heat for 1 minute.
4. Place 20 cloves of garlic into the pan.  Transfer chicken and its juices back to the pan and arrange them, skin-side up, snugly against each other in one layer.  Place the remaining 20 cloves of garlic and thyme on top.
5. Add wine and let it simmer for 1 minute.  Season with salt and pepper.
6. Cover the pan with a lid and cook in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven for 1 to 1¼ hour until the chicken is tender and the garlic has softened up beautifully.
7. Serve warm with mashed potatoes or sourdough bread to mop up the lovely sauce (and make sure each person has their fair share of garlic.)