Slow-Cooker Garlic Clove Chicken

Christmas week. The house is ready — the tree is up (Eduardo measured this year, a concession to efficiency that I pretend to appreciate), the lights are hung, the pasteles are in the freezer, and the pernil is marinating in the refrigerator, twenty-two pounds of pork shoulder wrapped in plastic and faith. The marinade has been working since Monday — garlic, oregano, vinegar, olive oil, black pepper — and by Wednesday the kitchen smells like the marinade has penetrated not just the meat but the walls, the curtains, the very concept of the house. This is correct. The house should smell like Christmas. Christmas smells like garlic and roasting pork. This is not debatable.

All four children will be here. Miguel Jr. and Jenny and Lucas. Rosa and Carlos — their first Christmas as a married couple, and they chose to spend it here, at my table, which is the correct choice and the only choice and the choice I would have insisted upon if they had considered any alternative. David is taking the train from Brooklyn on Tuesday. Sofía is here — she never left, she lives upstairs, she is twenty and in school and the best Christmas gift I could receive is her presence in this house, her footsteps on the stairs, her voice calling Mami from the kitchen.

I wrapped presents on Wednesday while Eduardo was at work. I am not good at wrapping presents. The paper tears, the tape sticks to itself, the corners refuse to cooperate. Mami was good at wrapping. Mami wrapped presents with the same precision she sewed wedding dresses — every fold exact, every edge clean, every ribbon curled with scissors. I wrap presents like I cook — with enthusiasm and volume rather than precision, and the gifts look like they were wrapped during a windstorm, but they are wrapped with love and the love is what the paper holds.

Mami's present is a new shawl — cashmere, navy blue, soft enough to make her smile. I will give it to her on Christmas morning when I bring her from the apartment to the house. She will say it is too expensive. I will say nothing is too expensive for my mother. She will say, You always spend too much. I will say, You always taught me that love is not measured in dollars. She will wear the shawl every day until it falls apart, the way she wore the last one, and the wearing is the thank you.

The pernil won’t be ready until Christmas Day — it needs every one of those days in the refrigerator, the garlic and oregano doing their quiet work — and in the meantime this house full of arriving children still needs to eat. This slow-cooker garlic clove chicken is what I make in the days before, when the oven is reserved for memories and the refrigerator is already spoken for. It asks almost nothing of you, the way the best holiday food should, and when it fills the kitchen with garlic and warmth it feels like a preview of everything still coming — Rosa and Carlos, David off the train, Sofía’s voice from the stairs, and twenty-two pounds of faith still waiting in the cold.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 6 hrs | Total Time: 6 hrs 15 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

3 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
40 garlic cloves, peeled (about 3 heads)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Season the chicken. Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels. Season all over with salt and black pepper.
Sear for color (optional but worth it). Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear the chicken skin-side down for 3–4 minutes until golden. You are not cooking it through — you are giving it color. Transfer to the slow cooker insert.
Build the garlic base. Scatter all 40 garlic cloves over and around the chicken. Pour the remaining olive oil and the white wine over everything. Add the thyme, rosemary, and red pepper flakes if using.
Slow cook. Dot the top with the butter pieces. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours, or on HIGH for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and tender and the garlic cloves are completely soft.
Rest and serve. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Spoon the garlic and all the pan juices generously over the top — the softened cloves spread like butter on crusty bread. Scatter fresh parsley over everything and serve with rice, roasted potatoes, or a good loaf of bread to catch every drop of the sauce.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow-Cooker Garlic Clove Chicken — When the House Already Smells Like Christmas