Chicken Baked with 30 Cloves
of Garlic
Before you cry
off this one, remember that garlic, simmered gently
for 1¼ hours, mellows deliciously, losing much of its pungency. I have to admit
it’s probably not the thing to eat before a first date, but otherwise it’s
utterly sublime. In this recipe, a huff paste (you don’t eat this) is used to
make a perfect seal for the lid of the casserole, ensuring that all the juices
and fragrances remain intact. It’s made in moments, but if you want to you
could use foil instead.
Serves : 4
Ingredients:
1 x 4lb / 1.8kg
Chicken
30 Cloves Garlic,
unpeeled (3 – 4 heads)
½oz / 10g Butter
1 Dessertspoon Olive
Oil
6 Small Sprigs Fresh Rosemary,
plus 1 heaped tbsp Rosemary
Leaves, bruised and chopped
10 floz / 275ml White Wine
Salt and Freshly
Milled Black Pepper
FOR THE HUFF PASTE:
8oz / 225g Plain Flour, plus a little extra for dusting
Instructions:
1.
Pre-heat
the oven to Gas Mark 6 / 400°F / 200°C.
2.
First of
all, dry the chicken
as much as possible with kitchen paper and season it well.
3.
Next, melt
the butter and oil in the
casserole, then, keeping the heat fairly high, brown
the chicken
carefully on all sides. This will seem a bit awkward, but all you do is protect
your hands with a cloth and hold the chicken by its legs,
turning it into different positions until it is a good golden colour all over;
this will take 10 – 15 minutes in all.
4.
After
that, remove the chicken
from the casserole, add the cloves of garlic and rosemary sprigs, toss
these around, then replace the chicken and sprinkle
the chopped rosemary
all over.
5.
Next, pour
the wine all around it and let it gently come up to simmering point.
6.
Meanwhile,
place the flour in a
bowl and add 5 floz / 150ml cold water – it should be
enough to make a soft but not sticky dough – then divide the dough into 4 and roll
each piece into a cylinder about 9 inches / 23cm long on a lightly floured
surface.
7.
Now
position these all around the rim of the casserole – it doesn’t matter what
they look like.
8.
Place the
casserole lid carefully on top, pressing down gently and making sure there are
no gaps. Alternatively, simply place a double sheet of foil over the casserole
before putting the lid on.
9.
Now place
the casserole in the oven and cook for 1¼ hours, then remove the lid and let
the chicken
continue to cook for another 10 minutes, to re-crisp the skin.
10.
Next
remove the chicken
from the casserole and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
11.
Serve the carved chicken
with the garlic
cloves alongside and the cooking juices poured around it. The idea is to squash
the garlic cloves
with a knife to release all the creamy pulp and, as you eat, dip the pieces of chicken into it.
If you would like to make a donation to help me keep this site going