40 Cloves Garlic Chicken with Cauliflower Potato Mash
This is the French braise that turns a head of garlic into something sweet, silky, and completely unrecognizable from its raw form. The kind of braise that fills the kitchen with something low and savory and makes everyone ask what is on the stove. The chicken falls from the bone. The sauce is glossy and sweet and tastes nothing like raw garlic. A cauliflower potato mash with crème fraîche underneath catches every drop.
Servings: Four
INGREDIENTS
6 to 8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs or 4 whole leg quarters
40 garlic cloves, peeled (about 3 to 4 heads garlic or 2 tubs peeled garlic cloves)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
Cauliflower Potato Mash
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons crème fraîche, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
PREPARATION
Make mash: Boil cauliflower florets and potato cubes together in well-salted water until completely tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Return to the pot and mash with butter, crème fraîche, and olive oil until smooth. Season very generously with salt.
Sear chicken: Pat chicken dry and season generously season both sides with salt and pepper. Place chicken pieces skin-side down in a cold Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot. Set heat to medium and cook undisturbed 12 to 15 minutes until the fat renders completely and the skin is deeply golden. Flip and cook 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate.
Build braise: Drain most fat from the pot leaving about 2 tablespoons. Add garlic cloves and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally 2 to 3 minutes until lightly golden. Add white wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom. Simmer 2 minutes. Add chicken stock and thyme sprigs.
Braise: Return chicken skin-side up. Bring to a gentle simmer, reduce heat to low, and braise uncovered 35 to 40 minutes until the meat is completely tender and nearly falling from the bone.
Make garlic sauce: Remove chicken and set aside. Remove thyme stems and transfer most of the garlic cloves and pan juices to a blender, leaving a few garlic cloves whole in the pan for texture. Blend until smooth, then pour sauce back into the pan and stir to combine. Taste and adjust salt. If the sauce is too thin simmer uncovered 5 minutes to reduce.
Plate: Spoon mash into warmed bowls. Place chicken on top. Ladle garlic sauce generously over everything. Serve immediately.
Notes:
Braising uncovered keeps the skin from steaming and allows the sauce to reduce and concentrate as it cooks.
The sauce sets into a loose jelly when cold. This is gelatin from the collagen in the chicken and bones — a sign of a deeply flavored braise. Reheat gently and it becomes silky again.
Optional: reserve the potato skins, pat dry, toss with olive oil and salt, and roast at 425°F for 12 to 15 minutes until crisp. Scatter over the finished bowls.
