OK, I know I already shared a recipe here for garlic lovers, but in case you
love garlic as much as I do, here's another one to consider. I wish I could
make this one, but until the baby is weened, I have to keep the amount of
garlic in our food fairly low. So this isn't a recipe as much as it is a
method, and I got this right off the "Good Eats" episode on garlic.
Get yourself about 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, or one whole chicken
cut into serving pieces, and season the chicken all over, generously, with
kosher salt and black pepper. Brown the chicken, skin side down, in about 2
tablespoons of olive oil for roughly 10 to 12 minutes per side. When that is
done, add several sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary, 40 peeled cloves of garlic,
and one half cup quality extra-virgin olive oil to the skillet. Cover the pan
with a lid, and slip the whole thing into a preheated 350-degree oven. Alton
Brown cooks his chicken for about an hour and a half, but I prefer somewhere
just under an hour. The aroma that will fill your house will make you druel
until it is done, and if you're mean and cruel like me, open your windows and
let the neighbors savor the aroma of a dinner they can't enjoy. Oh, and if you
possibly can, run to Sam's Club and get those large plastic tubs of the peeled
cloves of garlic, because, trust me, peeling that much garlic is a real pain!
When the chicken is done, the meat will be moist, absorb all the intense flavor
of the garlic herb oil, and the garlic cloves will be very soft and
incredibly-delicious! When I serve this, I just plate up two or three of the
chicken thighs along side some crusty sourdough bread, make up a little salad
on the side, dish up plenty of those sweet, roasted garlic cloves and a bit of
the olive oil from the pan, and go to town. Now, a couple of warnings about
making this amazing dish. Don't plan to go on any dates or make out with
anyone within 24 hours after you eat this. Trust me, it's worth it. Also, I
find that the leftovers just aren't very good once everything cools off, so
either make what you think you'll eat in one sitting, or invite a fellow garlic
snob over to share it with you. So, so good!
