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Chicken with ’40’ cloves of garlic

Published: 31 Mar 05
Updated: 18 Mar 24

Don’t be put off by the amount of garlic in this dish: once it has been roasted in the oven alongside the chicken, the taste and texture becomes mild, sweet and buttery. The tarragon, adds a fantastic sweet aniseed flavour.

Easy
April 2005

Test kitchen approved

Serves 8
Takes 2¼ hours to make

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 397kcals
Fat: 14.1g (4.1g saturated)
Protein: 59.1g
Carbohydrates: 6.5g (2g sugars)
Salt: 0.6g

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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 chickens, each weighing about 1.5kg
125ml dry white wine
300ml fresh chicken stock, hot
25g butter, softened
25g plain flour

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Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan160C/gas4. Pour the oil into the 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.
Uncover and increase the oven temperature to 190C/fan170C/gas5. 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. 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.

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 of the paste, depending on how thick you like your gravy. Season to taste, then pass through a sieve into a gravy jug.
Put the chickens and vegetables onto a serving plate and garnish with extra tarragon, if you like. Carve straight onto the plates and serve with the braised peas and carrots, and some buttered new potatoes.