40 clove chicken

1 whole chicken (broiler/fryer) cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
10 sprigs fresh thyme
40 peeled cloves garlic
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Toss with a 2 tablespoons olive oil and brown on both sides in a wide fry pan or skillet over high heat. Remove from heat, add oil, thyme, and garlic cloves. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove chicken from the oven, let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, carve, and serve

It's a classic that. Called poulet aux quarante d'ail in French (my grammar might be a bit off there, but you get the idea).

Here's a slightly different version:


Ingredients

1 nice free range chicken

2 or 3 heads of garlic

Olive oil

Salt and pepper
Method

Undo the garlic cloves, but don't peel them. Heat the oven to 180°C. In a large heavy based casserole, heat the olive oil and brown the chicken on all sides.

Throw in the garlic cloves, let them brown for a few minutes and then add about a glass and a half of water. Scrape all the sticky delicious bits from the surface of the pot. Add a little salt and cook in the oven for about 1 hour 15 or 30 minutes, according to the size of your bird.

Serve with a crisp fresh salad and some toasted crunchy bread with extra olive oil. Crush the poached garlic cloves onto it and eat with the chicken.

Source.

If you really like garlic all gooey like it is in this version, you can skip the chicken and just put a few whole bulbs in the over, or on a barbeque, and then have them on taste. Lovely.

This post has been edited by MichaelKVegfruit: Jul 27 2008, 01:33 AM