Giants baseball.

Words I do have to admit I’m not used to saying in late October.  But I’m saying it loud right now!  Damn, this is fun!

We had season tickets to the Giants for years – from Candlestick to Pac Bell Park and loved going out to the games.

So now we’re 3000 miles away, watching on TV – seeing our former season ticket seats on the telly – and wishing we were there in person to root on the home team.

But we aren’t.

So…  next best thing is to make up some San Francisco Ball Park food for dinner.

And the perfect excuse to use our new french fry/appetizer holders from our friends Kate and Lori!

The Giants are famous for their Garlic Fries.  There is not a vampire around that ballpark for miles and miles.  And miles.  And what else says San Francisco Ball Park Food like the Stinking Rose’s 40 Clove Garlic Chicken Sandwich?!?  I don’t know the exact ballpark recipe, but I have the restaurant’s recipe, so I adjusted it for putting between bread.

The Stinking Rose 40 Clove Garlic Chicken

You heard it right. 40 cloves! But don’t let that number scare you, because they add just the right amount of zest and aroma to make this one of The Stinking Rose’s most popular dishes!

  • 1 Tbsp. Butter
  • 2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2-3 lbs. Roasting Chicken, washed and cut into pieces
  • to taste Salt and Freshly Ground White Pepper
  • 4 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary
  • 1 Cup Flour
  • 40 Cloves Garlic, Peeled
  • 1 Cup Dry White Wine
  • 4 Cups Chicken Stock
  • 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

1. Heat butter and olive oil in a deep, heavy skillet.

2. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and rosemary. Toss in flour.

3. When the pan is hot, but not smoking, add the chicken, skin side down.

4. Sauté chicken until golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan.

5. Add garlic cloves and sauté until light brown.

6. Add white wine and chicken stock. Return chicken to pan.

7. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

8. Remove chicken and keep warm, turn heat to high and reduce liquid by 66%. Remove to blender, add cream and puree sauce. Adjust seasoning and serve over chicken.

I did it slightly different…

I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into strips.  I browned them, took them out of the pan, added the garlic, then chicken broth, cooked it down, added the cream, cooked it down, added the chicken, put it on rolls.  I didn’t need to add the flour and didn’t add any wine, either.  It was for a sandwich.

For the fries, I bought frozen garlic fries.  Cheating to a degree, I’ll admit, but we don’t really care for the garlic seasoning that comes with them, so I minced garlic, sauteed it with a bit of olive oil and when the fries were done, coated them with the homemade garlic.  It wasn’t nearly as gooey, sticky, and smelly as the ball park version, but they worked.

And the fry holders worked really well, too!  They are also deceptively large!  You can fit a lot of fries in one of those cups.  They’re a lot of fun!

So it’s minutes away from the start of game 2 of the World Series.  Last time the Giants won a World Series was 1954.  I was only a few years old and they were still in New York.  They have never won as a San Francisco team.

This is their year!

Go Giants!