Every summer I like to come up with some "bucket list" for the summer. I have to say over the last 5 years I've done everything on my bucket lists. My wish for this summer is to cook a new recipe once a week. I couldn't begin last week because of 4th of July, so I decided to start now. I turned to my favorite chef, Ina Garten, for a great way to kick off my summer cookin' list. I made Ina's chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. Delish. I thought it was very good and fairly simple to make.
First things first. It calls for chicken pieces. Unfortunately, there are no more real butchers in this world. I hate that I can't go to the grocery store and get the 8 pieces that come from one chicken. You have to either buy a value pack of 12 breasts or get one Dolly Parton for the same price. By time you purchase the breasts, thighs, drumsticks, and wings, you could've gone out to dinner for no work at all. I was faced with a dilemma. What to do... I'll tell you what I did, I butchered my own chicken!! I was so proud of myself. It was a bit creepy but then when I got in that groove, my Micmac roots came out. I used as much of the chicken as possible. They say you can save like the backbone and whatnot to make a chicken stock, but it's the wrong season for that. I did make a broth for soup from a turkey neck around Thanksgiving time. Fabulous.
I followed the recipe with a few changes. I didn't have quite 40 cloves. More like 30. The recipe calls for 2 chickens, I used one. Once my chicken was cut apart, the rest was quite simple. You put some butter and olive oil in a dutch oven.(Don't forget to get a little hot and heavy with the S and P) Brown the chicken in batches, about 4 minutes per side. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan. Add the garlic cloves, cook for about 10 minutes, lower the heat and add white wine and cognac. (Lower the heat so the cognac doesn't ignite) I was so afraid that a fire was going to start. I had the cover ready to smother and gloves on just in case. Let that cook together for a couple of minutes. Bring to a boil, add the chicken back to the pot, add some fresh thyme, cover and let simmer for about 40 minutes so the chicken is fully cooked. Then remove the chicken to a platter and cover. Take some of the juice and 2 tbsp. flour mix together then whisk into the pot to make a gravy. Then add 2 tbsp. heavy cream and 1 tbsp. of cognac. Whisk together until it's a beautiful gravy. S and P alert. Pour over the chicken pieces and there you go. Not too bad. It would have been much easier if the pieces were already cut. Has anyone been to that meat place in Branford? I saw it on my way to La Luna. I need a butcher desperately! The meat place in Branford claims to be that. I would go to Branford to stock up on some fresh meat.
Overall, my first recipe was successful! I'm not sure what I'll try next week. Maybe another Ina, maybe something Native American, not sure. I'll keep you updated!
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