Forty Clove Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

2 lbs of Chicken (you can use almost any kind, we prefer boneless, skinless breast)
4 or 5 garlic bulbs (not cloves, bulbs)
Fresh Thyme
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper

We also had two side dishes, Asparagus and Balti-roasted potatoes.
I will include those instructions farther down.

Now, On To the Chicken!!!

Step 1:

Begin by removing the garlic cloves from the bulbs. Then get knife out and get ready to use it. But not necessarily in the way you anticipate...

Step 2:

Gently place the flat of the knife on the garlic clove and press down. The goal is not to flatten the clove, but to give it a bit of a crack.

Step 3:

When cracked a bit, the skin is easy to peel off. You want naked cloves. As the name implies, you want about 40. (We ended up with 43 this time)

Step 4:

Next, cut the chicken into slightly-larger-than-bitesize bits.

Step 5:

All done cutting.

Step 6:

Place the chicken bits in an stove-and-oven-proof pot that has about a tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom, and place this on the stove. Give the chicken a bit of a browning. You do not need to cook it all the way through, just enough to give it that white-verging-on-slightly-browned look.

Step 7:

Garlic on left, skins on right. Garlic goes in pot, skins in trash or compost heap (Or in a sock stuck in a heating vent of a foe. It will produce a mild garlic smell, not strong enough to be offensive, but strong enough that folks will wonder about the smell...)

Step 8:

Add the Garlic, Salt, Pepper and Thyme to the pot. Add a bit more olive oil, about a tablespoon, to keep things greased properly.

Step 9:

Your oven should be heated to about 350 degrees, F. Cover the pot, and place it in your heated oven. Set a timer for 1.5 hours.

Step 10:

Now it is time to make the Balti-roasted potatoes. For this you will need the following: Several large potatoes,Kosher Flake Salt, Balti Seasoning (It is kinda like Curry, but not really), Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Step 11:

Peel and cut up your potatoes, and place them in a roasting pan.

Step 12:

Add some olive oil, Balti Seasoning and salt. The balti should be enough to coat the pieces as seen. Salt to taste. Toss it all around to make sure the potatoes are well coated

Step 13:

Place the potatoes in the oven. (yes, I know the oven is dirty. Bear in mind it was installed 50 years ago. There is some staining, but it cooks like a trooper!)

Step 14:

Now that the main bits are cooking, prepare the Asparagus the way you like. We prefer to steam it in the microwave and eat it with Mayonnaise. We get it ready now, but will not steam it until 10 minutes before the food comes out of the oven.

Step 15:

You should stir the potatoes every 15 minutes or so.

Step 16:

When your timer goes off, remove the potatoes and chicken. The garlic should have a yellowish-brownish, carmalized look to it. Do not worry. It has been transformed from the evil destroyer of breath to a mild food you could eat straight from the pot...

Step 17:

Arrange your food items on a plate or other flat surface in some artful way and serve!