This is one of my favourite dishes to cook. Nothing better to make it while having a glass of wine. With a few thunderstorms this week, I felt it was time for a little roasting!
Cooking time: 1 hour &
25 mins. Serves 4
2 celery stalks, including
leaves
2 sprigs of rosemary
4 sprigs of thyme
4 sprigs of italian flat leaf
parsley
1 x 1.6 kg chicken
40 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 small onion, cut into 4
wedges
250ml (1 cup) of white wine
1 baguette, cut into slices
Preheat the oven to 200
degrees (400 degrees for a gas oven). Put a chopped celery stalk and 2 sprigs
each of the rosemary, thyme and parsley into the chicken cavity. Add 6 cloves
of garlic. Tie the legs together and tuck the wing tips under.
Brush the chicken with some of
the oil and season well. Scatter about 10 more garlic cloves over the base of a
large casserole dish. Put the remaining sprigs of herbs, chopped celery, carrot
and onion in the casserole dish.
Put the chicken in the dish.
Scatter the remaining garlic cloves around the chicken and add the remaining
oil and wine. Cover and bake for 1 hour and 20 mins, or until the chicken is
tender and the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a skewer.
To serve, carefully lift the
chicken out of the casserole dish. Strain off the juices into a small saucepan.
Use tongs to pick out the garlic cloves from the strained mixture. Spoon off
the fat from the juices and boil for 2-3 minutes to reduce and thicken a
little.
Cut the chicken into serving
portions, pour over a little of the juices and scatter with the garlic. Toast
the baguette slices, then serve the chicken with the bread to be spread with
the soft flesh squeezed from the garlic cloves.
Bon Appetite!
