I don’t remember a time when I didn’t appreciate garlic. It’s always been a great flavor addition to just about anything. I can’t imagine most Italian dishes without it, and a large number of Asian ones as well. I’ve always liked the stuff, but I vividly remember the first time I truly fell in love with it. There was a restaurant that I don’t remember the name of any longer at a mall in town. We only went there a few times, and I remember nothing of what I ate there. Nothing, except the bread. Actually, not the bread, but really, what they brought with the bread. It was a little earthen jar with a whole head of garlic inside. It had been roasted, and they said that you were supposed to spread the roasted garlic on the bread. Young Me was skeptical. After all, garlic is pungent. Why would I basically eat this by itself? It was a backup singer; how could it be a headliner? Well, despite my misgivings, I tried it. I spread a softened clove on my hunk of bread with my knife, and took a timid bite.
After the choirs of angels stopped singing, I had a second bite.
So, yes, you could say I love garlic, especially the roasted stuff. This chapter goes one better and adds chicken to the mix in one of my favorite dishes, Forty Cloves and a Chicken. It’s a simple peasant dish, but “simple” does not necessarily mean “boring.” You start by searing a chicken in a pan on all sides to get some good browning, then add a half cup of olive oil, some fresh thyme, and the titular forty cloves of garlic. That seems like a lot, but really, if you’ve ever had roasted garlic, you know that it’s not nearly enough. You then cook it in the oven for an hour and a half, remove, let sit for fifteen minutes, then serve straight out of the pan.
It’s as good as you think it would be.
The best part of this chapter? It comes with its own side dish. To showcase the different ways garlic can be incorporated in a dish, Alton created a garlicky greens dish that I made with kale. Again, it’s remarkably easy. You peel and crush five to seven cloves of garlic, and lightly fry them in some olive oil to create garlic oil. Pull them out and throw in some sliced garlic to fry. Once the garlic is golden, remove from heat, add the greens as well as a minced clove of garlic, and toss to coat with the oil. Once it’s wilted, it’s ready to serve.
This was remarkably simple to make, and remarkably delicious. It was paired with a loaf of crusty Italian bread to spread the garlic on, not to mention sop up the oil and chicken fat. This was a decadent feast, and one I’ll definitely be having again.
Next: Uncooked eggs make the best sauce.
Recipes:
May 17, 2015
misroi
goodeatseaten 