Oh My, Garlic, Lemon, & Olive Chicken

Oh My, Garlic, Lemon, & Olive Chicken

chicken pieces, bone in & skin on (I chose: 2 large breasts, split in 1/2 and 4 thighs.  Just select what your family likes & what will make a full pan.)  

4 strips of bacon

3 whole heads of garlic

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced 

2 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup white cooking wine (can be omitted)

1 tbls flour, plus more for thickening

1 bay leaf

3 whole cloves

3/4 cup olives, kalamata or green

juice of 1 lemon

salt & pepper

optional: 3 tbls butter for gravy

When I heard about all these tastes together, I just had to give it my own twist & try it out on my family.  After traveling the world, we like our food full of flavor & this one fits the bill perfect.  Believe it or not, the garlic is not over-powering!  You are not actually eating the whole heads of garlic, they just put forth a great fragrance into the gravy! All the flavors blend together, without any certain one emerging the strongest... it's just savory & bursting with taste.

In a large, heavy & deep skillet... fry the strips of bacon on medium high heat.  Be careful not to let them burn or for the their drippings to get to dark, as this is this grease we will use for the next step.  After cooking, remove bacon, crumble & set aside for a garnish at serving time.

Now, time for the garlic!  Simply cut off the top 1/3 of the garlic, leaving the root section in tact.    Time to brown them on both sides over medium heat in the bacon grease, approx 3 minutes on each side. Then, remove to a reserve plate.  Time for the chicken!  First, salt & pepper all pieces of chicken.  If your bacon did not yield enough grease, add in 2-3 tablespoons of E.V.O.O. (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).  Brown chicken on all sides, approx 10 minutes.  If your pan is small, you might need to do this in 2 batches to prevent over-crowding, adding extra oil as needed.  Then, remove chicken to the plate with the garlic.

Veggie time! Saute the onion, red pepper & minced garlic on med- high heat for 5 minutes.  Then, sprinkle in the tablespoon of flour & cook one minute more, working the flour into the veggies.  Now, add in the chicken broth, lemon juice, cooking wine, bay leaf & cloves. Add in pepper to your families liking and salt, but go easy on the salt if using broth with sodium or the cooking wine. (Salt is added to cooking wine to make it unfit for drinking, but perfect for cooking) Next, transfer the chicken & golden garlic heads back to the pan.  Cover, and simmer low for approx 30 - 40 minutes or until juices run clear (this will vary depending on the size of your chicken pieces.)

Once finished, remove chicken & garlic heads to serving platter and discard bay leaf & cloves.  Add in the olives to the pan sauce & cook for 3 minutes more, then reduce heat to low.  Finally, you can leave your sauce thin or I like to thicken mine up like gravy.  To do this, using a small sauce pan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Then, briskly stir in 2-3 tbls of flour for 1 minute over med-high heat (it will look very thick at this point & that's just fine).  Using a large spoon, transfer approx 1/2 a cup of pan juices to the mixture & stir rapidly.  (Continue adding juices 1/4 cup at a time until it's the consistency of thick gravy.)  Now, add the thick mixture back to your pan sauce.  Return heat to high for 2-3 minutes until a low boil emerges, stirring rapidly, and watch the gravy thicken up beautifully! Salt & pepper to taste

For the grand finale... pour the gravy over the top of the chicken & garlic, which are just for looks at this point, and sprinkle with bacon crumbles.  I served mine over jasmine rice, but mashed potatoes would also be wonderful!  It looks beautiful, smells amazing & even my boys just couldn't put their forks down.