Garlic Chicken
Dinner | French
This is my take on the French Provençal classic 40 Clove Garlic Chicken. I’ve pushed it to 50 cloves because the garlic here isn’t pungent or sharp. Left unpeeled and braised in a sealed pot with vermouth, herbs and chicken fat, the cloves steam-roast inside their skins and transform completely. The starches convert, the sugars caramelise gently, and what you end up with is soft, butter-sweet paste that you squeeze straight onto crusty bread. The skin acts as a natural casing, protecting the garlic from the liquid and allowing it to essentially confit in the fat and steam during the 75-minute oven braise.
The process
The cook itself is straightforward. Brown the chicken pieces hard in batches to build fond on the base of the pan, then soften the aromatics in that fat before layering everything back in with the garlic and vermouth. Once the lid goes on and it hits the oven, it looks after itself. Serve it the traditional way with whole pieces of chicken, a good handful of those garlic cloves on the side, and a loaf of crusty bread to mop up the pan juices. It scales easily and reheats well, which makes it a good choice for feeding a crowd with minimal last-minute effort.
Ingredients
- 40ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
- 2kg (4.4lb) chicken, cut into 10 pieces
- sea salt and pepper, to season
- 2 sticks celery, chopped
- 2 brown onions, sliced
- ½ bunch thyme
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 3 sprigs flat leaf parsley
- 1 tsp dried Herbs de Provence
- freshly grated nutmeg
- 50 cloves garlic, unpeeled (about 4 heads)
- 125ml/5oz (½ cup) Vermouth
- crusty bread, to serve
Directions
PREP AND COOK THE CHICKEN
- Preheat the oven to 170°C fan force (340°F).
- Season chicken pieces well with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil in a large oven proof saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Cook the chicken pieces for 6-8 minutes, in batches, until well browned all over, then set aside.
COOK THE BASE
- Add the onion and celery to the pan and cook for 3 minutes, until softened.
- Stir in thyme, bay, parsley, dried herbs and grate over nutmeg.
- Sprinkle over half of the garlic cloves, then return the chicken to the pan and any resting juices.
- Add remaining garlic then pour in the vermouth. Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.
FINISH AND SERVE
- Once done, remove the pan from the oven and place on a heatproof surface.
- Serve chicken pieces with fresh crusty bread. Squeeze the garlic from its skin and lather it on the bread (like butter) and enjoy with the chicken and sauce.
Recipe notes
Garlic (unpeeled):
Keep the skins on. This is non-negotiable. The skin insulates the clove from the braising liquid, so rather than dissolving into the sauce, the garlic steams inside its own casing and turns silky and sweet. You can pull off the loose papery outer layers, but don’t peel them fully or you’ll end up with mushy, overly soft garlic that disappears into the sauce instead of remaining whole for serving.
Vermouth:
Dry vermouth adds a light, herbal acidity that cuts through the richness of the chicken fat and keeps the braising liquid from becoming heavy. If you don’t have vermouth, dry sherry is the closest substitute. Verjuice works if you want to skip the alcohol entirely. Avoid sweet vermouth as it will push the dish too far in the wrong direction.
Herbs de Provence:
This is a dried herb blend from the Provençal region that typically includes thyme, rosemary, marjoram, savory and often lavender. The lavender is what makes it distinctive. Good delis and greengrocers will carry it, but if you can’t find it, mixed dried herbs will cover the base flavour profile even if you lose the floral note.