Chicken with ‘40’ cloves of garlic

Categories: April

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 6 celery sticks, each stick cut into 3 or 4 lengths
• 2 onions, each cut into 8 wedges
• 2 garlic bulbs, broken into unpeeled cloves
• handful fresh parsley sprigs
• handful fresh tarragon sprigs, plus extra to serve
• 2 oven-ready chickens, each weighing about 1.5kg
• 125ml dry white wine
• 300ml fresh chicken stock, hot
• 25g butter, softened
• 25g plain flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan 160˚C/gas 4.

2. Pour the oil into a large roasting tin and heat on the hob. Add the celery, onion wedges and unpeeled garlic and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring once or twice, until slightly brown. Add the parsley and tarragon sprigs, then turn off the heat. Sit the chickens on top of the vegetables, side by side. Pour over the wine and stock, then cover the tin with foil, tucking it underneath the edge of the tin. Roast for 1 hour.

3. Uncover and increase the oven temperature to 190˚C/fan 170˚C/gas 5. Cook for a further 30 minutes, until the chickens are cooked and browned. To test they are cooked, insert a knife into the thickest part of each thigh, the juices should run clear. If not, return to the oven until cooked through.

4. Transfer the chickens to a baking tray. Remove the onion, celery and a few of the garlic cloves with a slotted spoon, and put beside the chicken. Cover with foil to keep warm.

5. Meanwhile, squeeze the garlic from the remaining cloves in the tin into the chicken juices. Put the tin on the hob and bring to a simmer. Mix the butter and flour together to make a paste, then gradually whisk into the juices, cooking until you have a thickened gravy – you may not need all the paste. Season to taste, then pass through a sieve into a gravy jug. Put the chicken and vegetables onto a serving plate and garnish with extra tarragon. Carve straight onto the plates and serve with the braised peas and carrots, and some buttered new potatoes.

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