… another Sunday another chicken in the oven… something simple but packed with flavour this time with my version of ‘chicken with 40 cloves of garlic’… um… ‘chicken with 20 cloves of garlic’… I know…I know… I’ve totally pushed the boat out here!
… there’s something magnificent about a golden roasted bird on a Sunday that just turns the day from an ordinary one into something special… and it’s such a simple thing to do… turn on oven, slather bird in oil/butter/whatever and bung it in till it’s golden… the original ’40 cloves of garlic’ recipe is as hard to pin down as the agreed method but in essence the idea is that the garlic cloves should go into the dish un-peeled and it’s this that adds the distinct mellow roasted garlic flavour… and I promise you, even if your not a fan of garlic, this is so mellow and so delicious that I urge you to try it next time you roast your bird…
… my method is to stuff the cavity with 2 quarters of a lemon and 2 quarters of an onion, then scatter the rest around the bird… I also roughly chopped a couple of carrots and celery sticks to scatter around… next you take your garlic cloves and bung them around too, shove some into the cavity as well.
… next is the only tricky bit… you need to get two large slices of butter and insert them, along with a garlic clove and some rosemary underneath the skin of each breast… this is a bit ‘hands-on’ as you have to separate the skin from the breast but its soooo worth it as you get a really moist flesh…
… drizzle oil over the who bird, add a teeny bit of water, season and then roast on a high oven for a good hour and half (it’s supposed to be 20mins per lb but go by your own guide… all I know is that you should turn the bird over, onto it’s breast after 30 mins and then back onto its back 30 mins later… this allows the juices in the chicken to run through the bird and keep it nice and moist… baste regularly and add a little more water once you’ve turned it back on its back, again, adding extra moistness… there’s that word again!
… eat and of course, enjoy!
I love chicken with lots of garlic. It's one of my favourite dishes.
can I come to your house for dinner next Sunday. Pleeeeeeeeese x
I'll pick Granny up on my way over!!
Dom you are inspiring me to go and pick up a whole chook when I brave the snow to go to the shops later. Wonderful looking roast, I can taste it from here!
oooooo i love the feeling of smoooshing the butter under the skin on the breast of a chicken…soooo satisfying (or a little gross)!! yum yum yum looks wonderful! xx
Perfect! I love squirting the roasted garlic out of their skins straight into my mouth . . . the sort of thing that would have got me into trouble for bad manners when I was a kid, but now I am all grown up I can do as I please! 🙂
I sometimes add a glass of wine to the pan half way through too. Funny what you say about getting the butter under the skin of the bird . . . the first time I did it, it felt a bit strange as well as being terrified that I was going to tear the skin. Now I wouldn't cook a chicken any other way!
Hummmmm….I love chicken with garlic.. I will surely try this recipe at home. thank you for sharing this recipe.
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OMG! its looks so delicious i will surely going to try this. Thank you
Wow this very good recipe.
The recipe looks incredible! Making me hungry 🙂
This is exactly my kind of dish. Sounds delicious. I will surely make it.