Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic

I have always wanted to make this recipe.  The "Barefoot Contessa's" flashed up on facebook to me last week.  It looked good so I went with that one.  The reason I made it now, frankly, was that I saw whole peeled garlic cloves at the Korean market I was shopping at last week so decided it was time.  I really never wanted to peel that much garlic before.

I followed her recipe but didn't have Cognac so used Grand Marnier instead and for that reason, used some orange & lemon zest at the end to heighten the orange flavor.  I also used 2 packs of chicken thighs that were on sale, so about 16 small thighs.  I patted the chicken dry with paper towels and then seasoned both sides with fresh cracked kosher salt and pepper.  I heated my cast iron dutch oven on medium and put in extra virgin olive oil and butter.  I browned the chicken in 4 batches and moved them to a plate.

I had a lot of fat in the pan now so drained most of it out.  Then I stir fried the garlic for 10 minutes or so.

I added the Grand Marnier, then the wine.  I put the chicken back in, added some fresh thyme and simmered for 30 minutes with the lid on tight and heat on low.

I removed the chicken and added the rest of the Grand Marnier over a boil.  Then I added in the zest.

I made a slurry of water and flour and cooked the gravy for about 5 minutes and seasoned with salt and pepper. Then I poured in some whipping cream (about 1/2 cup) and stirred again.  I decided at this time to mash the garlic lightly as it didn't seem to have much flavor besides the orange zest.  This made a huge difference.  My version ended up like "Smothered Chicken" though.  My gravy was really thick.  Nonetheless, it was tasty.  I served it with roasted potatoes & garlic.

I was too lazy to chop some parsley for garnish and the picture to give it some green.