2 takes on chicken with lots of garlic

These are two variations on the standard chicken with 40 cloves of garlic recipe. One mixes it up by using the slow cooker; the other adds a touch of heat to the equation. The winner? The diner.

Crockpot chicken with 40 cloves of garlic

Adapted from “The French Slow Cooker” by Michele Scicolone

Ingredients

40 cloves of garlic

12 bone-in chicken thighs

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Salt and pepper

½ cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Remove any loose papery skins from garlic, but don’t peel. Scatter garlic in the bottom of a slow cooker.

Season chicken with salt and pepper and sprinkle with rosemary. Place chicken atop garlic in slow cooker. Pour wine and lemon juice over the top. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.

Remove chicken from crockpot and place in a large, oven proof baking dish at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or about the time it takes to deal with the sauce. This will give the skin a chance to brown and crisp up a bit.

Remove garlic from slow cooker and remove and discard the skins. Pour cooking liquid from slow cooker into a small saucepan. Add most of the garlic cloves, retaining some to serve whole with the chicken. Smoosh garlic into the liquid and cook over medium high heat until it’s reduced and starting to thicken. Stir in butter.

Pour sauce over chicken and serve with the remaining cooked garlic. Mashed potatoes are nice with this.

Rating: This was so, so tasty. The lemon juice gives the sauce a nice zing, and crisping up the chicken skin in the oven saves it from being mushy chicken. The garlic cloves are essentially stewed, not roasted, so you don't have the same roasted garlic consistency you may be used to. But they are very soft and tasty. Great winter comfort food with minimal fuss. 

 

Roast chicken legs with lots of garlic

From Bon Appetit, Oct. 2018

Ingredients

4 chicken legs (or 8 thighs)

4 heads of garlic, halved crosswise

1 red chile, sliced lengthwise

5 sprigs fresh thyme or other aromatic of choice

1 lemon, thinly sliced into rounds, seeded

½ cup olive oil

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place chicken in a 13-by-9 baking dish. Tuck in garlic, cut-side down, and the red chile and thyme sprigs. Place lemon slices over the top of the chicken. Pour olive oil over the top. Roast for 75 to 90 minutes, until falling-off-the-bone tender.

Rating: Fine. Very minimal prep time and simple presentation. The lemon becomes like candy. While you can sop of some of that oil (aka elixir at this point) with some crusty bread, be prepared to have some leftover flavored oil and garlic that you can use as the starting point for a magnificent pasta sauce.