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James Beard's Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic

5.0(112)

This is a classic French fricassee, a Provençal dish popularized by Richard Olney, James Beard and other great cookbook writers of the postwar generation. An immense amount of garlic cooks slowly alongside the chicken, reducing the pungency of the cloves and replacing it with a thrumming sweetness and intensity. Eat the chicken in its sauce, then spread the softened garlic on bread and dip it in the remaining juices.

by Molly O'Neill

Open original recipe

AmericanDinner, Main Course

Servings

8 servings

Total time

1h 40m

Calories / serving

1097 kcal

Ingredients (12)

serves

4 ribs of celery, cut into long stripscelery
2 medium-size onions, coarsely choppedonion
6 sprigs parsleyparsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragontarragon
2/3 cup vegetable oilvegetable-oil
16 chicken legs, any mix of drumsticks and thighschicken-leg
1/2 cup dry vermouthdry-vermouth
2 1/2 teaspoons saltsalt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepperpepper
Freshly grated nutmegnutmeg
40 cloves garlic, unpeeledgarlic
French bread for serving

Instructions (2 steps)

01Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover the bottom of a heavy 6-quart casserole with the celery and onions and add the parsley and tarragon. Place the oil in a shallow dish. Dip the chicken pieces into the oil, coat all sides evenly and place in the casserole. Pour the vermouth over the chicken and sprinkle with the salt, pepper and a few gratings of nutmeg. Tuck the garlic around and between the chicken pieces.
02Cover the top of the casserole tightly with aluminum foil and fit the lid over the foil to create an airtight seal. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes without removing the cover. Check for doneness; return casserole to the oven if the chicken seems underdone. Serve the chicken along with the pan juices, the garlic and thin slices of heated French bread spread with garlic squeezed from the root end of the clove.