french garlic chicken

Serves four with leftovers that are delicious cold
cooking time 1 hour, rest 15 minutes

1 x 2.3kg to 2.5kg free-range or organic chicken
250g VERY COLD unsalted butter cut into 1 cm cubes
handful sage leaves [optional]
5 new seasons green garlic not more than 3 cm in diameter, peeled and cut vertically into four with about 10 cm green top still in tact
1 large red onion, peeled and cut into four
Maldon sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Sauce
Not really necessary you could just use the pan juices, but we made a simple caper and dill cream and chicken stock based sauce.

If you are going to do roast vegetables click here

Technique

1. Unless it is a 46°C day [then please use common sense] we take the chicken out of the fridge about three hours before we want to prepare it and put it into the oven. Rinse it inside and out with filtered cold water and dry it inside and out with paper towel. Sit it in the baking dish and put a splash of your best EVO on top. With bare hands rub it over the chicken skin to keep it supple. Failure to do this means you need to cook the chicken longer to cook it through and the meat will not be a succulent and juicy.

2. If you’ve got long fingernails wear food service gloves or you’ll tear the skin.

pre heat oven to 180°C
Working slowly and starting from the head end and breast side slowly and carefully easy the skin away from the flesh. Put the onion and two sage leaves and six of the butter cubes in a bowl and season liberally with Maldon and pepper. Roll them together and put it into the cavity.

Slide a few sage leaves under the skin and then push the butter under the skin making sure that there are cubes in the wing and leg joint. and then slide the garlic in.

Season generously with Maldon and freshly ground pepper. Put 1 cm cold water in the bottom of the baking dish. If you are doing roast veg add them to the pan and make sure you scrape all of the EVO in with the veg.

Place the chicken in the middle of the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes. When the timer goes baste the chicken with the pan juices, turn the veg and set a timer for another 30 minutes. When the timer goes put a tea towel wedge in the oven door so it is just slightly ajar and set a time for another 15 minutes.

roast vegetables

Sufficient for four….vegetables need to be room temperature.

8 medium red onions cut in half
6 carrots, peeled and cut into four
6 parsnips, peeled, cored and cut into quarters
pumpkin if you like only butternut or Queensland Blue
Maldon sea salt
black pepper
100ml EVO

Put the vegetables into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the EVO and roll the vegetables over until they are coated on all sides and put them around the chicken.