Veal Stew With 40 Cloves Of Garlic Recipes

40 CLOVES AND A CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper. Toss with a 2 tablespoons olive oil and brown on both sides in a wide fry pan or skillet over high heat. Remove from heat, add oil, thyme, and garlic cloves. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove chicken from the oven, let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, carve, and serve.

CHICKEN WITH 40 CLOVES OF GARLIC

Steps:

• When I was young, this old French classic was still - though in a quiet way - very much in vogue. I dare say it was because the novelty of using so many garlic cloves had not worn off; it seemed somehow dangerously excessive. Even so, I don't think anyone would think it quite unremarkable now to put 40 cloves of garlic in a casserole. Certainly, if you peeled and chopped - let alone minced - the garlic, it would be inedible, but garlic cloves cooked encased in their skins grow sweet and caramelly as they cook, like savory bonbons in their sticky wrappers, rather than breathing out acrid heat. This is a cozy supper, not a caustic one.
• This dish entered my canon under someone else's auspices. A few years ago, for the fortieth birthday of a then-colleague and friend of mine, Nick Thorogood, his partner asked everyone to contribute something written expressly for purpose to be compiled in a fat tribute of a book. Since most of Nick's and my conversation dwells, with almost fetid passion, on food, it seemed only proper to write a recipe for him. And given that it was his fortieth birthday, this seemed the right recipe.
• It is not quite the classic version (not that there is only one: food is as variable as the people who cook it) but it sticks to the basic principles. Maybe because the white meat on chicken tends towards the utterly tasteless these days, I prefer to use not a whole chicken, but thigh portions only. Naturally, this wouldn't make sense if you were raising your own chickens, then slaughtering them for the pot, as was the custom when this recipe came into being (and very good it would have been, too, for adding oomph to an old bird) but if you're following the contemporary shopping model, it works very well. For some reason, I veer towards recipes that can easily be cooked in one of my wide and shallow cast-iron Dutch ovens and this fits the bill perfectly.
• By all means, add some steamed or boiled potatoes alongside if you wish, but I'd prefer, by far, a baguette or two to be torn up and dunked into the flavorsome juices; though don't rule out the option of sourdough toast, which is the perfect vehicle for spreading the sweet-cooked garlic onto. Otherwise, some green beans or baby peas or a plain green salad is all you need for a sure-fire salivation-inducing supper.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat the oil on the stovetop in a wide, shallow ovenproof and flameproof Dutch oven (that will ultimately fit all the chicken in one layer, and that has a lid), and sear the chicken over a high heat, skin-side down. This may take 2 batches, so transfer the browned pieces to a bowl as you go.
• Once the chicken pieces are seared, transfer them all to the bowl. Finely slice the scallions, put them into the Dutch oven and quickly stir-fry them with the leaves torn from a few sprigs of thyme.
• Put 20 of the unpeeled cloves of garlic (papery excess removed) into the pan, top with the chicken pieces skin-side up, then cover with the remaining 20 cloves of garlic. Add the vermouth (or white wine) to any oily, chickeny juices left in the bowl. Swish it around and pour this into the pan too. Sprinkle with the salt, grind over the pepper, and add a few more sprigs of thyme. Put on the lid and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.
• Make Ahead Note: Chicken can be browned and casserole assembled 1 day ahead. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. Season with salt and pepper and warm the pan gently on the stovetop for 5 minutes before baking as directed in recipe.
• Making Leftovers Right: If I do have any chicken left over - and I don't think I've ever had more than 1 thigh portion - I take out the bone then and there and put the chicken in the refrigerator. Later (within a day or two), I make a garlicky soup, by removing the chicken, adding some chicken broth or water to the cold, jelled juices, placing it over a high heat and, when that's hot, shredding the chicken into it and heating it through thoroughly, till everything is piping hot. You can obviously add rice or pasta. Otherwise, mash any leftover garlic into the concentrated liquid (which will be solid when cold), chop up some leftover chicken, and put it all into a saucepan with some cream. Reheat gently until everything is piping hot, and use as a pasta sauce or serve with rice.

VEAL STEW WITH 40 CLOVES OF GARLIC

Steps:

• In a heavy casserole (which can go in the oven) brown batches of the veal in the oil until golden on all sides. As you brown the cubes, remove them to a platter. When they are all brown, add the leeks and carrots to the casserole and saute them for about 3 to 4 minutes or until tender. With a slotted spoon remove the cooked vegetables and discard the fat from the casserole.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Return the cooked leeks and carrots to the bottom of the casserole. Return the browned veal meat and place them over the vegetables. Add the wine and, over moderate heat, reduce the wine to almost nothing. Add the stock and bouquet garni and bring the liquid to a simmer. Add the garlic, salt and pepper. Cover the stew with a piece of foil with the edges turned upwards to catch the steam which will collect under the lid. Cover the casserole with a lid (or other piece of foil) and set in oven. Braise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is fork tender.
• Strain the solids from the liquid and keep warm. Remove excess fat and reduce liquid to 1 1/2 cups. Adjust the seasoning. Serve dusted with fresh dill. Accompany with rice, plain boiled potatoes or the mashed potatoes and spinach (see recipe below).

GARLIC LOVER'S BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Sprinkle beef with salt, pepper and flour; toss to coat., In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown beef in batches. Remove with a slotted spoon. Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic; cook and stir 1 minute., Add wine to skillet, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Transfer to a 5- or 6-qt. slow cooker. Stir in tomatoes, broth, carrots, onions, tomato paste, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, cloves and beef., Cook, covered, on low 8-10 hours or until beef is tender. Remove bay leaves. Serve with mashed potatoes.

BRAISED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH 40 CLOVES OF GARLIC

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Simmer the garlic in a saucepan of water until tender, about 10 minutes (this will soften the flavor). Drain and let cool, then pop the jackets off the cloves and reserve.
• Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the EVOO in a large ovenproof skillet. Add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook until the skin is browned and very crisp, 7 to 8 minutes. Flip the chicken and brown the other side, 3 to 4 minutes more. Remove the chicken to a plate. Melt the butter into the fat remaining in the skillet and add the mushrooms and thyme. Cook until the mushrooms are browned and very tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Deglaze with the Marsala, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Return the chicken to the skillet, skin-side up, and add the garlic. Add enough stock to come up and around the chicken but not cover the skin. Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook for 45 minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a warmed platter and loosely tent with foil. Reduce the sauce on the stovetop until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add the kale and cook until just wilted, then stir in a bit of nutmeg.
• Spoon the sauce and kale into shallow bowls and top with the chicken. Serve with warm bread for mopping.

VEAL STEW

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir until onion is tender.
• Add meat to the pot, and brown evenly.
• Stir in tomato sauce and white wine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until tender.