Poulet aux Quarante Gousses d'Ail

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Poulet aux Quarante Gousses d'Ail (Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic)

Ron’s notes: This is a French provincial or country-style recipe, meaning it's a plain farmers' recipe; nothing fancy here, just awesome, sweet and buttery flavor. I got this recipe from my friend, John Rivera and was excited to try it - it was definitely not a disappointment!

When I prepared this, I tried a couple of additions to the original recipe: first, I added a sprig or two of fresh French tarragon, in the cavity and on the bird. This was a good addition that definitely added great flavor. Next, after browning the chicken, I sautéd a couple of sliced shallots and de-glazed the pan with some wine (broth also works), then reduced those down with a few bits of bacon scraps left over from the morning's breakfast. When it reduced down to about 2/3 to 3/4 cup, I then poured it over the chicken before covering it and putting it in the oven.   
Results were beyond description. The chicken looked perfect, smelled perfect and tasted better than that. 40 cloves of garlic are exactly right, not over-powering.  The toasted, crusty bread was buttered and the garlic paste from the unpeeled cloves was squeezed out onto the bread for a very good garlic toast that was even better when used to sop up the juices that were spooned on the chicken. Every bit of the chicken exploded with tender, juicy flavor and I cannot imagine a better way to serve a whole chicken after trying this. Serve with roasted potatoes and sliced pears.

1 roasting chicken 
3 sprigs fresh rosemary 
40 large cloves garlic, unpeeled 
2 bay leaves 
6 sprigs fresh thyme 
Salt and pepper 
Olive oil 
Crusty bread 

Preheat oven to 375 F; put 4 garlic cloves, 3 sprigs thyme, 1 sprig of rosemary and 1 bay leaf in cavity of chicken, then tie the legs together and fold the wings underneath. Heat a good splash of olive oil in a heavy pan and quickly brown whole chicken on all sides; top, bottom etc. 

Put chicken into a deep casserole with lid and sprinkle the remaining garlic on and around bird. Pour remaining oil from browning over the whole chicken. Toss remaining herbs on and around it, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and put lid on. Seal seam well with tinfoil and scrunch it up tight. Bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Do not open oven for any reason; have a beer, watch TV, read a book.

Remove casserole from oven and set on stove for at least 10 minutes - DO NOT OPEN. Meanwhile, toast the crusty bread. When toasted, put in basket, carve chicken and serve. Squeeze the deliciously soft garlic onto the buttered and crusty toasted bread and enjoy the chicken.

Here we are, after browing on the stovetop and ready to go into the oven:

And here's the finished dish, ready to be served:

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TasunkaWitko Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9389	Post Options Post Reply Quote TasunkaWitko Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Poulet aux Quarante Gousses d'Ail Posted: 27 January 2010 at 13:04
	*Poulet aux Quarante Gousses d'Ail (Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic)* *Ron’s notes:* This is a French provincial or country-style recipe, meaning it's a plain farmers' recipe; nothing fancy here, just awesome, sweet and buttery flavor. I got this recipe from my friend, John Rivera and was excited to try it - it was definitely not a disappointment! When I prepared this, I tried a couple of additions to the original recipe: first, I added a sprig or two of fresh French tarragon, in the cavity and on the bird. This was a good addition that definitely added great flavor. Next, after browning the chicken, I sautéd a couple of sliced shallots and de-glazed the pan with some wine (broth also works), then reduced those down with a few bits of bacon scraps left over from the morning's breakfast. When it reduced down to about 2/3 to 3/4 cup, I then poured it over the chicken before covering it and putting it in the oven. Results were beyond description. The chicken looked perfect, smelled perfect and tasted better than that. 40 cloves of garlic are exactly right, not over-powering. The toasted, crusty bread was buttered and the garlic paste from the unpeeled cloves was squeezed out onto the bread for a very good garlic toast that was even better when used to sop up the juices that were spooned on the chicken. Every bit of the chicken exploded with tender, juicy flavor and I cannot imagine a better way to serve a whole chicken after trying this. Serve with roasted potatoes and sliced pears. 1 roasting chicken 3 sprigs fresh rosemary 40 large cloves garlic, unpeeled 2 bay leaves 6 sprigs fresh thyme Salt and pepper Olive oil Crusty bread Preheat oven to 375 F; put 4 garlic cloves, 3 sprigs thyme, 1 sprig of rosemary and 1 bay leaf in cavity of chicken, then tie the legs together and fold the wings underneath. Heat a good splash of olive oil in a heavy pan and quickly brown whole chicken on all sides; top, bottom etc. Put chicken into a deep casserole with lid and sprinkle the remaining garlic on and around bird. Pour remaining oil from browning over the whole chicken. Toss remaining herbs on and around it, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and put lid on. Seal seam well with tinfoil and scrunch it up tight. Bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Do not open oven for any reason; have a beer, watch TV, read a book. Remove casserole from oven and set on stove for at least 10 minutes - DO NOT OPEN. Meanwhile, toast the crusty bread. When toasted, put in basket, carve chicken and serve. Squeeze the deliciously soft garlic onto the buttered and crusty toasted bread and enjoy the chicken. Here we are, after browing on the stovetop and ready to go into the oven: And here's the finished dish, ready to be served:
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TasunkaWitko Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9389	Post Options Post Reply Quote TasunkaWitko Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 January 2011 at 10:45
	Here's another poulet that we made a while ago: I'll be honest, this one NEVER gets boring! it's one of those that i could have probably two or three times a month and enjoy every time. The smells, the flavours, the components all working together - it's phenomenal. Here's a plated picture with a couple of slices of beer-cheese bread: I know that a few of you may be leery because of the 40 cloves of garlic (WOW, that sounds like a lot!) but it really is perfect for this project. Also, pay attention to the instructions calling to leave the cloves UNPEELED. a couple of reasons for this are that the cloves are not meant to be eaten but rather squeezed out onto some nice, hot crusty bread. Another reason is because I believe that leaving them unpeeled helps to keep the garlic in its place and prevent it from overpowering the dish. In any case, if you have try this and liked it with peeled garlic, then also try it as written and you will like it even more ~
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Margi Cintrano Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Master Chef Joined: 03 February 2012 Location: Spain Status: Offline Points: 6362	Post Options Post Reply Quote Margi Cintrano Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 March 2013 at 07:58
	Tas, This roast chicken is so similar to my Italian version, Pollo al Mattone ... See Italia Section, recipe posted today !!! Definitely ALMOST same ingredients !!! Truly like it ... a definite on list ... Margi.
	Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.