Chicken with 30 cloves of garlic

Brown the skin-on chicken thighs skin side down in butter and a little oil, five or six minutes, then turn them over.

Scatter all the unpeeled garlic cloves over, spoon them so they bathe in the butter and oil, and cook 10 to 15 minutes.

Turn the heat to high, add the cognac and flambe it; toss the pieces in it once the flames die down.

Cook a further ten minutes.

Remove the chicken, take the pan off the heat and pour off the excess butter and rendered fat.

Back on high heat, deglaze with dry white wine, detaching the caramelised residue, and reduce a little.

Return the chicken on top of the bed of garlic and simmer gently about ten minutes until the meat is juicy and tender.

Bistro serving: coat the chicken in the sauce and serve with some of the garlic, which has become a puree in its skin, a little of the juice, and parsley. Ratatouille or pasta alongside.

Variation: press the flesh of about four caramelised cloves into the pan juices with a tablespoon of cream and boil once; pour that garlic sauce over the chicken and finish with parsley.