Go Back
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic Bake

Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
  • 3 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 3 heads of garlic
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup leeks, white parts only, halved and thinly sliced
  • 1 cup dry white wine, I prefer pinot grigio
  • 1/4 cup dry sherry
  • 8 sprigs thyme
  • 4 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup mascarpone
  • 2 cups low sodium chicken stock
  • gougères dough, see notes for recipe

Instructions

  • Evenly distribute 2 teaspoons of salt on both sides of the chicken pieces. Set aside.
  • Separate the garlic cloves from the head of garlic. Do not remove the peels yet. Fill a small saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Place the garlic cloves into the water. Boil for 1 minute and remove. Let the garlic cloves cool, about 5 minutes. Remove the peel from the garlic cloves. Set aside.
  • In a large dutch oven, or cast iron skillet, over medium-high heat, heat up the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. In batches brown the chicken, 4 minutes per side (for a total of 8 minutes). Remove the chicken from the pan, set aside covered with foil and let cool. Remove the pan from the stovetop and let cool for 2 minutes.
  • Lower the heat to medium, place the pan back onto the stovetop and melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the garlic and leeks. Cook until golden, about 3-5 minutes. Stir frequently so to not burn the garlic and leeks (if the garlic burns it will affect the overall flavor of this meal).
  • Add the white wine to the pan and deglaze. Scrape up any brown bits. Add the chicken stock, sherry, thyme and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Stir well. Add the chicken pieces back into the pan. Increase the heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, covered.
  • Remove the chicken and place onto a cutting board. Let the chicken cool for 15 minutes. (While the chicken cools, make the gougères dough, see notes for recipe.) Once the chicken is cool, remove the meat from the bone and cut into bite-sized pieces.
  • Remove the thyme bundle from the pan sauce. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • Place the flour into a small bowl. Add enough pan sauce to the flour to make a slurry (gravy). Stir with a fork or whisk to work out any flour clumps. Add the slurry back into the pan with the remaining sauce. Whisk well. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Add the sour cream, mascarpone, cream and cut chicken into pan. Stir well. Top the pan with small scoops of the gougères dough.
  • Place the pan into the oven and cook for 30 minutes, or until the gougères are golden and the mixture is bubbling. Serve warm with crème fraiche mashed potatoes, click here for recipe.

Notes

This recipe, excluding the gougères dough, can be made two days before serving. Click here for the Gougères recipe.
Serve with Crème Fraiche Mashed Potatoes, click here for recipe.