As I was rushing around this morning grabbing last minute things before dashing out the door I run back in for my purse with the Costco magazine folded to a recipe right on top. All I can think is…..do I really want to make a dish that has 40 cloves of garlic in it? It makes me think back to a story a Realtor had told me back in my working days. He said he consumed so much garlic that he woke in a deep sweat because he smelled something so strong in the house and he came to realize it was him- the amount of garlic he had consumed all week was starting to come out of his pores. Garlic is actually good for you but I don’t think I want to consume it to the point of smelling like it. This was fairly easy to make with the exception of not peeling the garlic prior to getting started. Do that first- peeling three Whole heads of garlic takes time. I used Champagne that I normally buy from Trader Joe’s. I didn’t skip a single step and everyone including the little ones loved this dish so much it is definitely a keeper. 🙂 I made steam asparagus along side. The cloves of garlic slow cook down to a nice softness and you can eat the whole clove in the most amazing creamy sauce ever. I might use this sauce for Thanksgiving. 🙂
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Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
10 to 12 large bone-in chicken thighs (about 5 pounds)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
40 cloves garlic, peeled (about 3 whole heads)
1/4 cup lemon juice, or to taste
1 cup Champagne or other dry sparkling or white wine
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Heat the oven to 325 F. Heat a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high. When the pot is hot, add the oil.
Season the chicken on both sides with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Working in batches so as to not crowd the pot, sear the chicken, skin side down, until golden brown, about 6 minutes per batch. Brown briefly on the second side, then transfer the browned chicken to a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken.
Add the garlic to the empty pot and cook, stirring, until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, Champagne, broth and thyme. Return the chicken to the pot, nestling the pieces down into the liquid. Make sure some of the garlic is sitting on top of the chicken. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover the pot, then place in the oven. Cook, stirring once midway to ensure even cooking, until the chicken is falling-off-the-bone tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Transfer the chicken and some of the garlic to a platter, then cover with foil to keep warm. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs from the pot.
In a medium bowl, mash together the flour and butter to form a smooth paste. Slowly whisk 1/2 cup of the hot juices from the pot into the paste until smooth, then add this mixture to the pot along with 2 tablespoons of the parsley. Whisk to combine. Don’t worry if some of the garlic cloves get smashed; they will help to thicken and enrich the sauce. Cover and cook over medium heat until the gravy has thickened, 10 to 20 minutes longer.
Season the sauce with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, or more to taste. Serve the chicken with the gravy spooned over the top and sprinkled with the remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley.
Nutrition information per serving: 870 calories; 560 calories from fat (64 percent of total calories); 62 g fat (18 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 325 mg cholesterol; 1,090 mg sodium; 13 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 56 g protein.
Taste Of Sweet 