Recipe Review: Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic (CrepesofWrath.net)

It's Slow Cooker day on BullsBistro!

(source)

I'm a garlicophile, and I've been wanting to try out Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic for a long long time. Combined with an inspired recipe from Crepes of Wrath that uses the Crock Pot (!!!), this is a perfectly easy and delicious meal.

I've also been trying to implement "Salad Day" once a week at the Bulls house. Lettuce makes me gag, but I can work with spinach, so this was our salad topping of the week. The chicken cooks in garlic for a few hours, and then all the roasted garlic goodness is pulverized into making what is essentially a garlic dressing. Add in a few of your favorite toppings and this is a perfectly palatable, hearty meal and a nice first step into Salad Days.

From CrepesofWrath.net (visit the blog to see step-by-step pics):

Ingredients:
3 1/2-4 pound fryer chicken (chicken cut into serving pieces)
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
40 cloves of garlic, peeled but still whole (about 3 bulbs of garlic)
3/4 cup white wine (optional, but highly recommended)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon butter

Preparation:
1. Spray the inside of your crock pot with non-stick spray. Rub the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Place in the crock pot.
2. Heat your olive oil in a small skillet and add the peeled, whole garlic (here’s a short video demonstrating how to peel garlic easily and quickly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th1YOvG5VgQ). Cook for 5-8 minutes over medium heat until the garlic is golden, then add the white wine and stir until the liquid has mostly evaporated, another 3-5 minutes over medium heat.
3. Pour the garlic and white wine over the chicken in the crock pot, and sprinkle the thyme and rosemary over everything. Add in the bay leaf. Turn the crock pot to low and cook for 3-4 hours (I did mine for 3 1/2 hours). When ready, remove the chicken and place on a separate platter, then cover with foil to retain its heat. Set aside.
4. Pour the juices from the pot through a mesh sieve into a pot, then press the garlic through the sieve to form a paste. Cook the gravy with a tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat until slightly thickened, about 5-8 minutes. Serve over the chicken with potatoes, vegetables, or crusty bread and enjoy! Serves 3-4.

So what did I change?
2 chicken breasts subbed for 3.5-4 lb fryer chicken
Added spices to taste, such as garlic powder, onion powder, and a bit of cayenne pepper
Added a bit of chicken broth to the Crock Pot - because we chose to use chicken breasts we already had rather than buying a fryer, we prepared to have less juices from the meat released during cooking and added a cup or so of broth to keep it tender and moist. Using breasts also means less cook time - we had ours on low for about 2.5 hrs.
Rather than force garlic through a strainer, TBird pulled out his second-favorite kitchen gadget, the hand mixer, and pulverized the garlic instead (after taking out the bay leaf!). 
Rather than serve over starches, I shredded some spinach leaves and poured about half a diced chicken and a large helping of sauce over them, topping with dry roasted peanuts.

Successes:
- If you love garlic, be prepared for a little slice of heaven. 40 cloves of garlic is no small amount, and it makes a strong statement that my fellow garlicophiles will love. The spices added (both ours and the original) add a nice herbal undertone, so it's not straight garlic, but rather better garlic.
- The gravy/dressing worked perfectly on the spinach salad. You could hardly taste the spinach, making it a nice base for people who aren't such big lovers of salads like me to dip their toes into salad world.
- Peanuts are my new favorite topping after discovering Thai food - T didn't add peanuts to his, which I think was silly because the saltiness added a little something I thought the garlic was missing on its own. Eating this dish in salad-style also opens it up to a lot of additions - dried tomatoes, vegetables to add, things like that.
- Reheatability = A+.

Failures:
- This probably IS better with a whole chicken, or maybe with just dark meat, since it holds its moisture better in a Crock Pot. T mentioned his chicken was a little overcooked, although I didn't notice mine to be.
- This is technically a Crock Pot recipe, but the convenience of leaving it all day at work isn't there since it's just two hours (or 3-4 at the most). I'd make this either on a weekend while you run short errands or the night before you want to eat it on a weeknight.

BullsBistro Rating: A- 
Definitely making it again, if only for a good way to get into some more spinach-eating.