Chicken With Lots (and lots) of Cloves of Garlic

For all the so-called "fancy" meals that Darrell and I have been learning to make over the last few years we have yet to make a dish that is as comforting as a "meat and potatoes" kind of meal. Maybe it's nostalgia from our childhood, the typical Sunday night feast that left you feeling warm, full and loved. This is one of those meals: so simple, so easy, so basic and yet so delicious. This was the first recipe that we decided to try out after meeting Chef Lynn Crawford and buying her latest cookbook. It jumped out from the pages for both me and my husband while we perused it as we waited in line for her to sign it for us. We both agreed (a first), that this should be the flagship recipe (not sure that's even correct but I like the way it sounds and that's good enough for me.)  A nice open, "Welcome to Autumn" kind of meal. In fact, we made it again during the week with some chicken thighs, that's how much we loved it.

Give it a shot. Yes, it does sound very basic but match this chicken up with some smashed potatoes (with lots of butter, of course) and a nice glass of red to help you cook and enjoy the meal with (go with a blend like Bear Flag or Dreaming Tree from California...our current faves!) and you will have comfort and warmth to last you from Canadian Thanksgiving to Christmas Day.

Bring on the garlic chicken and mashed potatoes!

Chicken with Lots of Cloves of Garlic
from Chef Lynn Crawford's new cookbook " At Home with Lynn Crawford"

3 tbsp olive oil
1 chicken, about 4 lbs, backbone removed, cut in 8 pieces
salt and pepper
1 cup peeled whole garlic cloves
1/2 cup white wine (pour the remaining white wine into your glass, and repeat often.)
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp chopped tarragon (we used our own home-grown fresh sage as we couldn't get tarragon at our local grocery store...darn Freshco)

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a heavy pot. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pot and cook, turning once, until browned, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a baking dish.

Add garlic to pot and saute until browned, about 6 minutes. Add wine and scrape up the lovely brown bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add stock and bring to a boil. Transfer one-quarter of the garlic to the baking dish with the chicken. Mash remaining garlic into the stock and pour over the chicken.

Bake until the chicken is tender and no longer pink inside, about 20 minutes. Garnish with tarragon (or sage) just before serving.

Paired well with smashed potatoes and the rest of the white wine...and another bottle of red...or so, but whose counting. Certainly not us. Nope. We are not ones to judge these things.

Cheers!