Braised Chicken with Shallots, Garlic & Balsamic Vinegar

Mashed potatoes are an ideal accompaniment to this dish.

6 bacon slices (4 oz), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide strips
1 (3 1/2-lb) chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces
1 lb shallots, thinly sliced
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Cook bacon in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, stirring, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain and reserve bacon fat in skillet.

While bacon is cooking, pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Brown, beginning with skin sides down, in 2 batches in bacon fat over moderately high heat, turning, about 8 minutes. Transfer chicken as browned with tongs to a plate and pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet. Add shallots to skillet and cook over moderately low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft and pale golden, about 10 minutes.

Remove lid and cook shallots, stirring, until deep golden, about 10 minutes more. Add garlic and 1 cup water to skillet and boil, stirring, 1 minute.

Return chicken to skillet, turning pieces to coat, then arrange them skin sides up and gently simmer, covered, until chicken is cooked through and garlic is tender, about 30 minutes.

Transfer chicken with tongs to a serving dish. Add vinegar to sauce and boil, uncovered, mashing garlic with back of a spoon, until slightly thickened. Season sauce with salt and pepper and pour over chicken, then sprinkle with bacon. Makes 4 servings

Garlic Soup with Tomato

4 thin slices of peasant bread

3 medium tomatoes, cut into chunks

10 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 medium bell peppers (red, green, or yellow) cored, seeded, and cut into chunks

½ cup olive oil

2 tsp sea salt

Black pepper

Heat oven to 225 degrees. Lay the bread directly on the middle rack and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, just to dry it out.

In a food processor, pulse the tomatoes, half of the garlic, and the bell peppers until coarsely chopped.

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Scrape the vegetables into the pan. Cook stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining garlic, the salt, and 2 cups of water. Bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with pepper.

Lay one slice of bread in the bottom of four soup bowls. Pour the soup over the bread. Let sit for 10 minutes. Serve. Makes 6 cups.

Garlic-Oregano Vinaigrette

Toss this dressing with the lettuce mix for a great starter. The vinaigrette can be stored for a week in the fridge, but bring to room temperature to serve.

½ cup olive oil

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup white wine vinegar

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ tsp dried oregano, crumbled

1 tsp salt

½ tsp dried mustard

pepper

Combine all ingrediants in a jar. Shake well. Makes 1 ½ cups.

Roasted Garlic

Try this spread on French bread. It’s also great mixed into mashed potatoes!

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4 large heads of garlic

¼ cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut top ¼ inch off heads of garlic to expose cloves. Place garlic in small baking dish. Add oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; too to coat. Turn garlic cut side up. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake until skins are golden brown and cloves are tender, about 55 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic cloves from skins. Makes about 1 1/3 cups.