Hairy Bikers 40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken

Forty cloves of garlic sounds like a lot, but that is exactly the point of this French classic. Si and Dave brown a whole chicken, nestle it in a casserole with all that garlic, shallots, and vermouth, then finish the pan juices with a tarragon cream sauce. It comes from their Chicken and Egg book, serves 4 to 6, and works out around 600 kcal a portion.

The make-or-break is the long, gentle bake with the lid on. You brown the bird first for colour, then let it cook low and slow for over an hour, which is what makes the meat fall-apart tender and softens all that garlic at the same time.

The finishing touch is the sauce, made right at the end once the chicken is resting. You skim the fat from the winey pan juices, then stir in tarragon and cream, which turns those garlicky cooking liquids into something rich enough to pour over everything.

Hairy Bikers 40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Braising Cuisine:British French Courses:Dinner

Difficulty:IntermediatePrep time: 20 minutesCook time:1 hour 30 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time:1 hour 50 minutesServings:6 servingsCalories:600 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

A whole chicken is browned in butter, then nestled in a casserole with forty unpeeled garlic cloves, peeled shallots, thyme, vermouth, and stock, and slow-baked under a lid until the garlic is meltingly soft. The pan juices are finished with tarragon and cream into a rich sauce, served with crusty bread for squeezing out the sweet roasted garlic.

Ingredients

• 250g shallots (small ones, not banana shallots)
• 1 x 1.5kg chicken, giblets removed
• ½ lemon, halved
• 1 bay leaf
• 25g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme
• 40 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 150ml vermouth
• 250ml chicken stock
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 100ml double cream or crème fraîche
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Prep the shallots and chicken: Heat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Cover the shallots with just-boiled water for 5 minutes to loosen the skins. Remove any string from the chicken, put the lemon and bay leaf in the cavity, and season it inside and out.
2. Brown the chicken: Melt the butter with the oil in a large flameproof casserole, then brown the chicken for a couple of minutes on each side and sprinkle with the thyme. Peel the drained shallots, halving larger ones.
3. Add the garlic: Nestle the shallots and all 40 garlic cloves around the chicken, then pour over the vermouth and stock and bring to a simmer on the hob.
4. Slow-bake: Cover with a tight lid and transfer to the oven. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the garlic is completely soft.
5. Rest the chicken: Move the chicken, garlic, and shallots to a warm dish, cover with foil and tea towels, then tilt the casserole and skim off the fat from the juices.
6. Make the sauce: Back on the hob, stir the tarragon and cream into the juices and simmer gently for 3 minutes. Season, then serve with the sauce and crusty bread for squeezing out the soft garlic.

FAQs

Is 40 cloves of garlic too much, and is it very garlicky?

It sounds alarming, but the finished dish is surprisingly gentle. Because the cloves are cooked whole and unpeeled for well over an hour, the garlic turns soft, sweet, and mild rather than sharp.

You end up with mellow, almost caramelised garlic you can spread like butter, not the pungent hit you get from raw cloves. Forty is the whole charm of the dish, so do not be tempted to cut it down.

Do you peel the garlic cloves first?

No, and that is deliberate. The cloves go in whole with their skins on, which protects them as they cook and stops them burning or dissolving into the sauce.

At the table you squeeze each soft clove out of its skin and spread the sweet garlic onto crusty bread, which is half the fun of eating it.

What is vermouth, and what can I use instead?

Vermouth is a fortified, herb-infused wine that brings a savoury depth to the sauce here. It keeps well in the cupboard, so it is handy for cooking even if you do not drink it.

If you have none, a dry white wine is the closest swap and works perfectly well. Either way it reduces down with the stock into the base of that lovely sauce.

Can I use chicken pieces instead of a whole bird?

Yes, bone-in thighs or legs work well if you would rather not deal with a whole chicken. Keep the skin on for flavour and brown them the same way before adding the garlic and liquid.

They will cook faster than a whole bird, so start checking at around 45 minutes rather than the full hour and a quarter.

What do you serve with it?

Si and Dave suggest colcannon and spring greens, which soak up the garlicky sauce beautifully. Crusty bread is essential too, since you need it for spreading all that soft roasted garlic.

For another French-style chicken dinner, their tarragon chicken uses the same tarragon and cream sauce, while their roast chicken is another whole bird done simply.