Name: Roast Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons regular olive oil; 8 chicken thighs (with skin on and bone in), preferably organic; 2 shallots, diced; 8-10 sprigs fresh thyme (I didn’t have this, so I used 1 teaspoon of dried thyme instead); 40 cloves garlic (approximately 3 to 4 heads), unpeeled but papery excess removed; 1/4 cup dry white vermouth or white wine; 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock; kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Scale

Ingredients

2 tablespoons regular olive oil
8 chicken thighs (with skin on and bone in), preferably organic
2 shallots, diced
8–10 sprigs fresh thyme (I didn’t have this, so I used 1 teaspoon of dried thyme instead)
40 cloves garlic (approximately 3 to 4 heads), unpeeled but papery excess removed
1/4 cup dry white vermouth or white wine
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a wide* Dutch oven, heat the oil on medium-high heat. Season the chicken liberally on both sides with salt and pepper. Then, working in batches, sear the chicken on both sides, starting skin-side down and flipping only once the skin is bronzed and golden, and releases itself without sticking. (If it’s stuck, wait a minute — the skin will naturally unstick itself when it’s nicely browned.) Set aside once seared.
Once you’ve finished searing your chicken, transfer the chicken fat and olive oil that’s in the Dutch oven to a small bowl (this keeps your chicken from being too greasy later). Heat 2 tablespoons of the rendered fat in the Dutch oven, and saute the diced shallots until translucent. Add the thyme and cook for an additional minute or two, then remove the Dutch oven from the heat.
Place half of the garlic cloves into the Dutch oven, then layer the chicken pieces (skin-side up) over top, along with any chicken juices from your resting plate. Scatter the remaining garlic cloves on top.
Add the white vermouth or wine, and the chicken stock. Sprinkle with a bit more salt and pepper, and additional sprigs of thyme. Cover and cook for 1-1/2 hours. Serve with something green and lots of toasted baguette to soak up all that garlicky-chickeny sauce.

Notes

*You’ll want to ultimately fit all of the chicken in a single layer (I just barely managed this in my 4-quart round cocotte), so choose a pot wide enough for this. If you don’t have one, you can transfer the chicken to a 9-x-13 baking dish and line tightly with foil for the baking part of the recipe.
Recipe from Nigella Lawson