Chicken recipe with roasted garlic: A perfect dish for garlic lovers

I’m going to start by confessing I have a thing against meat on the bone. I just prefer it to be skinless, boneless, and ideally, overcooked. Which of course isn’t always what my dinner companions prefer. So you may be asking, what made me choose a recipe that involves bone-in chicken? It was the garlic.

Chatelaine’s chicken with roasted garlic from the 100+ best recipes book calls for 40 cloves of garlic. Forty. And with all the winter germs that are lurking around, I figured a good hit of garlic couldn’t hurt.

Now despite my commitment to staying true to the recipes, I did falter at the grocery store. I actually picked up boneless, skinless chicken breasts, twice, but walked out with the bone-in variety. After all, in the grand scheme of things no one should over think chicken. And I promised myself I’d trust the Chatelaine experts.

There was zero prep for the chicken except to pat it dry and salt it, and then to pop it in an oiled pot. Easy. Browning the chicken was quick, but the oil splatter was messy. Tip: wear an apron, and use a splatter guard if you have one. Once the chicken was browned and partially cooked, I tossed in the 40 cloves of garlic (separated but NOT peeled), the herbs, and let it all simmer for about 25 minutes to finish cooking the meat. During which time I enjoyed a chilled glass of white wine and a few moments of mommy time (read: quiet time).

After the chicken was cooked, I transferred it to the serving platter along with half the garlic. The other half of the cloves went on the cutting board to peel and mash for the sauce. The simmered garlic cloves fell apart and whisked easily into the broth, wine, and drippings.

Fresh baguette went in the oven, chicken was plated with roasted garlic cloves ready to spread on the warm bread, and the garlic gravy was poured over the chicken. And while I was prepared for this not to be my favourite dish (I’m really stuck on the bone thing), I have to admit I really (really) liked it. Especially the garlic gravy sauce, which paired deliciously with the warm and crusty bread.

This would be a great dish to serve at a family get together, and the only thing I would add next time would be a green salad. Oh, and more bread to sop up the garlic sauce…

Try this recipe: Chicken and roasted garlic