Chicken and 42 Cloves
Our Dinner: Chicken and 42 cloves:
Welcome back to Doc's Dinner and a Movie! Todays combination is Chicken and 42 Cloves and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I love this dish. First of all I LOVE garlic and the name does not disappoint, it literally has 42 cloves in it. I will add that this is not a spicy dish, the garlic gets incredibly sweet and tastes like candy when finished and the chicken will fall off the bone. It is also very easy. Here's what you'll need.
The first thing you will need is your towel.
Chicken: For this I like legs and thighs, on the bone. About 5-6 pieces or what ever will fit on your pan
Chicken: For this I like legs and thighs, on the bone. About 5-6 pieces or what ever will fit on your pan
Garlic: 42 cloves worth...duh.
1/2 cup and a little extra of olive oil. Do not use Extra Virgin
2 tbls of butter
2 tbls of butter
Thyme, about 10 sprigs
Salt and Pepper
See easy ;)
Make sure that you have a frying pan that you can cover and put in the oven. If it has a plastic handle I'm afraid you're out of luck. Dutch ovens are perfect. The prep work on this is pretty simple but tedious. First clean the chicken. Just wash them in water and dry them with paper towels. Grab a fresh sheet and place on the skin side to sop up any excess moisture. Next is the fun part... peel 42 cloves of garlic. And unfortunately smash and pull is not going to work the cloves should be intact. Find the hard end that attached the clove to the head. You can start peeling from here as it is a good place to pick at. Or you can snip that part and peel. Either way this is a pain in the ass, but DON"T PANIC.
Time to start cooking. First season your chicken, both side with just some salt and pepper to taste. Turn your cook top to high and preset your oven to 350. The way I like to see if the pan is ready is to drop a little bit of water on it. If the drops kind of dances around you are good to go. Believe it or not but if the water simply sizzles and evaporate right away it is not hot enough.Coat your pan with enough oil to coat the surface, not too much add the butter and the chicken in. The butter helps to brown the chicken.
Start skin side down and brown. Just keep an eye on it I don't have a set time. Look for golden brown, not black. Turn over and repeat. Once both sides are done take off the heat. Toss everything else in the pan the pan and cover. Cook in the oven for about an hour and a half. Remove from oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes. I like to serve this over white rice. You can pour as much as much of the sauce on top of the whole thing and rice just sucks it up. And do NOT forget to grab all those lovely cooked garlic cloves, they are the best part. Along with the chicken add a veggie of your choice and drink with a white wine. Chardonnay is good but go with what you like and enjoy!
Time to start cooking. First season your chicken, both side with just some salt and pepper to taste. Turn your cook top to high and preset your oven to 350. The way I like to see if the pan is ready is to drop a little bit of water on it. If the drops kind of dances around you are good to go. Believe it or not but if the water simply sizzles and evaporate right away it is not hot enough.Coat your pan with enough oil to coat the surface, not too much add the butter and the chicken in. The butter helps to brown the chicken.
Start skin side down and brown. Just keep an eye on it I don't have a set time. Look for golden brown, not black. Turn over and repeat. Once both sides are done take off the heat. Toss everything else in the pan the pan and cover. Cook in the oven for about an hour and a half. Remove from oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes. I like to serve this over white rice. You can pour as much as much of the sauce on top of the whole thing and rice just sucks it up. And do NOT forget to grab all those lovely cooked garlic cloves, they are the best part. Along with the chicken add a veggie of your choice and drink with a white wine. Chardonnay is good but go with what you like and enjoy!
Our Movie: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
Our movie was a long time in the making. The Douglas Adams book was in development hell for decades before it was finally brought to the big screen. It stars Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent a human thrust into an adventure that spans the galaxy along with his guide Ford by Mos Def and his love interest Trillian played by Zooey Deschenel. The best parts are the narration by Stephen Fry and Sam Rockwell who plays the President of the Galaxy with great nods to Alan Rickman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Bill Nighy. Altogether a great cast!
After Ford saves Arthur from a rather large catastrophe they find themselves aboard the star ship Heart of Gold. The ship is piloted by President Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian, and the manically depressed Marvin. They are in search of the fabled planet Magrathea where the answer to the ultimate question is to be found. Throughout their adventures they are in fact being chased by a race of intergalactic bureaucrats known as the Vogons who are pursuing Zaphod for kidnapping himself. It is a playful story with some obscure jokes but I remember reading the book as a kid and simply loved it. This not a serious tale nor is it extremely deep but that is not the point. Just sit back and have a good time.
Great Quotes:
Arthur: Ford?
Ford: Yeah?
Arthur: I think I'm a sofa.
Ford: I know how you feel...
Marvin: I've been talking to the main computer.
Arthur: And?
Marvin: It hates met.
Zaphod: Trillian, are you wearing my underwear? Cus I'm wearing yours, and it ain't doin the trick.
The Guide:What to do if you find yourself stuck with no hope of rescue: Consider yourself lucky that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your present circumstances seems more likely, consider yourself lucky that it won't be troubling you much longer.
Marvin: You can blame the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation for making androids with GPP...
Arthur: What's GPP
Marvin: Genuine People Personalities. I'm a personality prototype. You can tell, can't you...?
The Guide: The best drink in existance is the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, the effect of which, is like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon... wrapped around a large gold brick. (I'm looking for the recipe on this one, stay tuned for more.)
So there you have it! I hope you all enjoy today selections. Eat, drink and see a movie..
Oh yeah, so long and thanks for all the fish!
After Ford saves Arthur from a rather large catastrophe they find themselves aboard the star ship Heart of Gold. The ship is piloted by President Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian, and the manically depressed Marvin. They are in search of the fabled planet Magrathea where the answer to the ultimate question is to be found. Throughout their adventures they are in fact being chased by a race of intergalactic bureaucrats known as the Vogons who are pursuing Zaphod for kidnapping himself. It is a playful story with some obscure jokes but I remember reading the book as a kid and simply loved it. This not a serious tale nor is it extremely deep but that is not the point. Just sit back and have a good time.
Great Quotes:
Arthur: Ford?
Ford: Yeah?
Arthur: I think I'm a sofa.
Ford: I know how you feel...
Marvin: I've been talking to the main computer.
Arthur: And?
Marvin: It hates met.
Zaphod: Trillian, are you wearing my underwear? Cus I'm wearing yours, and it ain't doin the trick.
The Guide:What to do if you find yourself stuck with no hope of rescue: Consider yourself lucky that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your present circumstances seems more likely, consider yourself lucky that it won't be troubling you much longer.
Marvin: You can blame the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation for making androids with GPP...
Arthur: What's GPP
Marvin: Genuine People Personalities. I'm a personality prototype. You can tell, can't you...?
The Guide: The best drink in existance is the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, the effect of which, is like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon... wrapped around a large gold brick. (I'm looking for the recipe on this one, stay tuned for more.)
So there you have it! I hope you all enjoy today selections. Eat, drink and see a movie..
Oh yeah, so long and thanks for all the fish!
