Personal
Car Stuff
Extras
Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic
When I was young, this old French classic was still – though in a quiet way – very much in vogue. Garlic cloves cooked encased in their skins grow sweet and caramelly as they cook, like savoury bonbons in their sticky wrappers, rather than breathing out acrid heat. This is a cosy supper, not a caustic one. I prefer to use not a whole chicken, but thigh portions only. Serve with a baguette or two to be torn up and dunked into the flavoursome juices; or sourdough toast, which is the perfect vehicle for spreading the sweet-cooked garlic onto. Otherwise, some fine beans or baby peas or a plain green salad is all you need for a sure-fire salivation-inducing supper. From Nigella Lawson.
2 tbsp regular olive oil
8 chicken thighs (with skin on and bone in), preferably organic
1 bunch (about 6) spring onions
small bunch fresh thyme
40 garlic cloves (approx 3-4 bulbs), unpeeled
2 tbsp dry white wine
1½ tsp sea salt flakes or ¾ tsp pouring salt
good grinding pepper
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Heat the oil on the hob over a high heat in a wide, shallow, ovenproof and flameproof casserole (that will ultimately fit all the chicken in one layer, and that has a lid). Sear the chicken, skin-side down. This may take two batches, so transfer the browned pieces to a bowl as you go. Once the chicken pieces are seared, transfer them all to the bowl.
Finely slice the spring onions, put them into the casserole and quickly stir-fry them with the leaves torn from a few sprigs of thyme.
Put 20 of the unpeeled cloves of garlic (papery excess removed) into the casserole, top with the chicken pieces, skin-side up, then cover with the remaining 20 cloves of garlic.
Add the vermouth (or white wine) to any oily chicken juices left in the bowl. Swill it around and pour this into the casserole.
Sprinkle with the salt, grind over the pepper, and add a few more sprigs of thyme. Put on the lid and cook in the oven for 1½ hours.
tip
Nigella says: "If I do have any chicken left over I take out the bone then and there and put the chicken in the fridge. Later (within a day or two), I make a garlicky soup, by removing the chicken, adding some chicken stock or water to the cold, jellied juices, placing it over a high heat and, when that’s hot, shredding the chicken into it and heating it through thoroughly, until everything is piping hot. Otherwise, mash any leftover garlic into the concentrated liquid (which will be solid when cold), chop up some leftover chicken and put it all into a saucepan with some cream. Reheat gently until everything is piping hot and use as a pasta sauce or serve with rice."
