Crock-Pot Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Do you know there are several recipes for Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic posted all over the Internet? 

Seriously, I didn't realize it until I decided over the weekend that I wanted to prepare this dish for dinner on Monday night.  You can find some version of this recipe pretty much anywhere:  Food Network, Bloggers, Allrecipes, etc.! 

With the help of my friend (in real life) Lisa, I was able to decide on a combination of flavors that would work for me. 

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic with Roasted Potatoes & Onions

Ingredients:

• 3lbs. potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 3 cups onions, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced 
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 4 bone-in split chicken breast (approx. 4 lbs.)
• 33 cloves of garlic*, peeled
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
• 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. pepper

This is a photo of the raw chicken layered in the crock pot on top of the potatoes and onions.

Directions:

• In a large bowl, toss the potatoes and onions with the sliced garlic, olive oil, rosemary and thyme. 
• Spread the potato and onion mixture evenly on the bottom of a large crockpot.**
• Use the same large bowl; toss chicken pieces with the olive oil and the remaining ingredients.  Fit a garlic clove or two into open spaces in the chicken breast (optional). 
• Fit the chicken parts in the crock pot on top of the potatoes and onions. 
• Place lid on top and cook on low 6-8 hours.***

This photo is the chicken after it cooked in the crock pot for 5 hours. 

See the nice roasted garlic? 

Mmmmmm!

Notes:
     * I was tired of peeling garlic at this point, we never missed the other cloves! 
   ** I reserved the potatoes and onions to use for another meal later this week. 
 *** I cooked this on high for one hour, then turned it to low for 4 hours. 

I really enjoyed this recipe.  The flavors were wonderful!  The chicken was a teeny bit dry, I'm thinking that I layered too many potatoes and they didn't allow for the chicken to baste in the cooking juices.  But I like that we were able to eat it like a nice piece of roasted chicken.  Sometimes meat is too tender when cooked in the crock pot.  At least to my liking.  I think I will try this combination of spices with a whole chicken the next time.  With less potatoes on the bottom.

When I began deciding how I wanted to season the chicken and prepare everything, I knew the chicken wouldn't fill the entire crock pot.  I remember someone telling me that they cook their chicken and potatoes at the same time in the oven.  I thought that was a great idea, but decided that the garlic potatoes along with the garlic chicken would be a bit much for one meal.  So, I came up with a plan for those roasted potatoes. 

Be sure to check back to find out how I used those potatoes and onions in another meal!

I will be sharing this blog post on the following carnivals this week: 

• Crock-Pot Wednesday
• Food on Friday