40 Garlic Chicken Recipe Wanted

[Shel_B]

Some of my cookbooks are in storage, including the two books I have with Olney's recipe for 40 Garlic Chicken. I did a web search and could not find the recipe. Does anyone have a link to Olney's recipe? Thanks!

[therippa]

http://gourmettraveller.com.au/chicken_with_40_cloves_of_garlic.htm

[Shel_B]

http://gourmettraveller.com.au/chicken_with_40_cloves_of_garlic.htm

The article says the recipe is "based on" Olney's recipe, and the credit for the recipe is given to someone other than Olney. Also, some aspects of the recipe don't seem to be like I remember Olney's. Are you sure this is Olney's recipe?

Thanks!

[therippa]

Recipes will say "based on" and slightly tweak a thing or two to avoid copyright issues.

Besides, chicken and 40 cloves is really just chicken and 40 cloves.

[Shel_B]

Recipes will say "based on" and slightly tweak a thing or two to avoid copyright issues.

Besides, chicken and 40 cloves is really just chicken and 40 cloves.

Then it's not Olney's recipe from Simple French Food ...

[inductioncook]

Olney "recipes" are not easily summarized, they're not just a list of ingedients and procedures. That's really the beauty of his writing and approach to the world.

[Shel_B]

I'm making dinner for friends later this week and want to make Olney's Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic. This weekend I made a test batch using some cheap, supermarket chicken.

The test batch was disappointing because there was an inordinate amount of fat and liquid discharged from the chicken (all complete legs). I cannot recall seeing this problem in earlier preparations of this dish, but it's been quite a few years since I made it, and my memory may be faulty.

Is this abundance of fat and liquid typical of the dish, or might it have been the result of fattier and water-logged chicken? If the latter, might better quality, perhaps air-chilled, chicken help the problem? If typical of the dish, any suggestions to minimize the effect of chicken pieces swimming in fatty water? One thought I had is to put the chicken on a rack along with the garlic, and let the bouquet garni rest on the vessel bottom to impart flavor and aroma via the liquid. Comments?

[Pam Brunning]

Your cheap chickens were probably injected with water. In the UK meat can have up to 10% water injected without it having to be declared. They even have multi needle injectors for over fish here!

[Dave the Cook]

Chickens are not injected with water in the US. They may be "enhanced" with a salt/flavoring solution (which is, admittedly, mostly water), but this must be stated on the label. Similarly, water chilling can lead to extra water in the product. But again, this must be declared. Per the USDA:

During this water chilling process, turkeys and chickens will absorb some of the water, and this amount must be prominently declared on the label. It is not unusual for poultry to declare 8 to 12% retained water on the label.

[Pam Brunning]

What is in a name - water or flavour enhancer- we are obviously more honest in the UK!

[Dave the Cook]

I'm not sure how that follows, Pam. UK regulations don't require labeling of injected water, whereas in the US, there is no pure water injection, and anything else must be declared on the label.

[Pam Brunning]

No, our injection is not pure water it is a flavour enhancer and water retaining chemicals usualy. Do you have to state % quantities of flavour enhancer? - a flavour enhancer can be a liquid, hence adding to wetness of flesh. Our regs. say that if a product is soaked in a solution (brine or whatever) it will naturally take up a limited quantity this is why they say it must be stated if wetness is over 10%. This is how they get away with injecting without declaring up to the 10% level. The thing is if a product says 10% it can have up to 20% because they disreguard the first 10% - it's nuts!

Sorry Shel-b we are not solving your problem - have you tried with better quality chicken?

Edited August 23, 2010 by Pam Brunning (log)

[nickloman]

This weekend I made a test batch using some cheap, supermarket chicken.

Why?

[OliverB]

I'd put it on a rack, but also cut away as much obvious fat as you can. Air chilled would most likely be better, but might cost you quite some more for a larger crowd. If you even can find just legs.

Most chicken share a 40 or so degree chlorine bath after slaughter to chill quickly. You can imagine how nasty that soup is, and the chicken all soak some of it up in the process. Nice, hu?

You could also try to dry the chicken on a plate in the fridge for a day, but be careful with smells and flavors it could pick up. Don't put it next to the stinky cheese :-)

[davidkeay]

Did you try to salvage the disappointing version of it? I would vote for pulling the chicken, defatting the sauce, and reducing to see how it is once you make it stronger. As long as there isn't too much salt, it seems worth a try!

[Shel_B]

This weekend I made a test batch using some cheap, supermarket chicken.

Why?

Because I wanted to see if the amount of chicken I was going to make would fit into the roaster, and to see if there might be any problems with the concept (which there was).

[Shel_B]

Did you try to salvage the disappointing version of it? I would vote for pulling the chicken, defatting the sauce, and reducing to see how it is once you make it stronger. As long as there isn't too much salt, it seems worth a try!

The problem was not in making a sauce, but the fact that the chicken was drowning in fat and the meat was greasy. Neither I nor my guests would enjoy such a dish.

[DanM]

I make a version of chicken with 40 garlic cloves where I place the chicken on a bed of diced root veg (typically waxy potatoes) and half of the garlic. The veg will soak up most of the juices, fat, and some of the liquid. This keeps the chicken high and dry and the root veg moist and delicious!

Dan