Chicken and 28 Cloves

Happy Garlic Day, Everyone!

Oh, you didn't know it was Garlic Day?  Well, you really missed out, then.  Dessert is pretty much the only thing I don't put garlic in, so I'm a bit surprised that I have never made Chicken and 40 Cloves.  There are a lot of recipes for Chicken and 40 Cloves out there, but I decided to go with chicken-guru Ina Garten's.  I used 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of the whole chicken and scaled the rest of the ingredients down by a 1/3.  This is what two heads worth of garlic looks like:

I cooked the garlic really slowly in the butter-olive oil-chicken fat mixture to get a deep, sweet garlic flavor in the end sauce.  It takes a while, but it was so worth it.  At this point, I seriously considered smearing the cloves on crusty bread and calling it a meal.  But I held strong, believing the white wine and slightest touch of  cream could only make things better.  I added an extra cup of chicken stock and I was glad to have the extra sauce soaking into the couscous.  After simmering the chicken, I pureed the sauce to maximize the garlic flavor in each bite.  I know, 28 cloves of garlic seems like an overwhelming amount, but the result is a mild, delicious sauce.  If you are looking for a way to mix up your chicken, this is a great way to go.  You won't even need a breath mint afterwards.