I’ve wanted to try this recipe for ages!
With the arrival of Ian and Diana’s new season garlic, I was keen to use up the last of my previous year’s frozen supplies…
Forty frozen cloves of garlic, looking most fine after a year in the deep freeze!
I followed Nigella Lawson’s recipe, substituting chicken drumsticks for the thigh pieces she’d stipulated, and our perennial leeks for the spring onions.
The chicken was browned in a little oil first, then laid over the chopped leeks, half of the unpeeled garlic cloves and a scattering of thyme leaves. The remaining cloves were scattered on top with a few sprigs of thyme, a couple of tablespoons of white wine and a light seasoning of salt and pepper. The pot was then covered with a tight fitting lid and baked in a 160C (with fan) oven for 1½ hours.
The finished dish was surprisingly mellow, yet still distinctly garlicky. The frozen garlic worked perfectly, although there were still quite a few cloves left in the pot at the end of the meal (Small Man made short work of most of the drumsticks)…
Loathe to waste the cooked garlic, and inspired by Joanna’s recent post, I squeezed the soft pulp out of the leftover cloves and mixed it into a batch of our sourdough ciabattas. The finished loaves were served with antipasto the following evening!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 