Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic
- Total Time
- 1 hour 40 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ⅔cup olive oil
- 8chicken drumsticks
- 8chicken thighs
- 4celery ribs, cut into 4 inch-long strips
- 2cups chopped onion
- 6parsley sprigs
- 1teaspoon dried tarragon
- ½cup dry vermouth
- 2½teaspoons salt
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- dash grated nutmeg
- 40cloves garlic, unpeeled
- Freshly sliced French bread
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
854 calories; 62 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 31 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 58 grams protein; 1011 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Put the oil in a shallow dish and add the chicken pieces; coat evenly with oil.
- Step 2
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Step 3
In a heavy 6-quart casserole, combine the celery, onions, parsley and tarragon. Lay the oiled chicken pieces on top. Pour on the vermouth. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a dash of nutmeg. Tuck the garlic cloves in and around the chicken pieces. Cover the casserole tightly with aluminum foil, then the lid. Bake 90 minutes without removing the lid.
- Step 4
Serve chicken, pan juices and garlic cloves with French bread. Diners should squeeze the buds of garlic from their husks onto the bread, then spread the garlic like butter.
Private Notes
Comments
Gourmet Magazine ran Julia Child's column From the French Chef's Kitchen - I have the article copyrighted 1974, '40 Cloves of Garlic May Not Be Enough.' Her friend James Beard had come over for dinner and whipped up the dish. The Burros recipe is almost the same except Beard "cut a couple of carrots, four or five celery ribs, and two big yellow onions into long matchsticks." One cup vermouth, and dollop of brandy. 375 oven, 1 1/2 hours. Sublime!
I halved the oil (to 1/3 cup), removed the skin from the bone-in thighs and drumsticks, and browned them before assembling the dish and baking it. Absolutely delicious and significantly less fatty and caloric. Accidentally left out the nutmeg — it wasn't missed — but will be sure to add it next time. Oh yes, there will definitely be a next time!
Chicken must be seared first, in order to appear like the photo. Otherwise, the skin turns rather spongey.
Though I made the modification suggested about increasing the temperature and removing the lid and foil for the last 30 minutes, but I still found this recipe to be too bland. I was glad to have made this modification because prior to doing this, The chicken looked unappealing to eat. While, the chicken was tender, I’m not sure why everyone loves this recipe. My whole family agreed that the sauce was bland. I will not be making this again.
Though comforting and hearty, and dead simple to make, this dish turned out very bland. There's a reason we usually roast, grill or fry chicken vs. boiling or steaming it. I see in the comments that some cooks are browning the chicken to avoid soggy skin, but instead of making this recipe less easy, I think there are better recipes on here that call for nesting chicken pieces on a bed of something (beans or greens) and roasting at a high temp.
The Silver Palate offers a similar recipe that celebrates 40 cloves of garlic. Serve with buttered pasta, grated Parmesan, and parsley. Elegant