Recipe courtesy of Garlic, Olive Oil + Everything Else by Daen Lia, Macmillan Publishers, RRP $49.99
I absolutely adore a roast chicken dinner – not only because it’s so easy to whip up, but because there are so many ways that one dinner can be repurposed. In my house, we usually have one chicken breast left over, which makes the most delicious sandwich for lunch the next day. The chicken carcass will be wrapped up and stored in my freezer, alongside vegetable trimmings to make stock on a slow Sunday morning. Not one inch of this dinner goes to waste! And I mean that literally. When I was testing this chicken recipe, I am not embarrassed to say that I could not stop using my finger to mop up the sauce on the bottom of the tin – it was just so delicious! But what makes this roast chicken extra special is not only the use of my roasted garlic and herb butter, but also those jammy shallots – sweet, caramelised and doused in garlic butter.
- 1 × 1.5 kg whole chicken
- sea salt flakes
- freshly ground black pepper
- 150 g Roasted Garlic Herb Butter (see below), at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 garlic bulb
- 1⁄2 lemon
- 1⁄4 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
- 20 French shallots, peeled and halved
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Method
Pat the chicken skin dry with paper towel and generously season all over with salt and pepper. Sprinkle salt and pepper inside the cavity of the chicken. If you have time, leave the chicken to sit for 2 hours while it comes to room temperature. This step will act as a dry brine for the chicken and leave you with the juiciest meat.
Preheat the oven to 170°C conventional (150°C fan-forced).
Using your fingers, carefully separate the skin from the chicken breast and stuff each side with roughly 50 g of the butter. Season the chicken with the onion and garlic powder, then massage the remaining butter all over.
Using a sharp knife, slice the top off the garlic bulb, about 2–3 cm down from the top, to expose the raw cloves. Place the garlic bulb in the cavity of the chicken, along with the lemon and parsley. Tie the legs of the chicken together with kitchen string – this will help the chicken cook evenly.
Place the chicken in a roasting tin and scatter the shallot around the chicken. Drizzle the shallot and chicken with the olive oil and season with
a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until the chicken is golden brown and completely cooked through and the shallot is nice and jammy.
Leave the chicken to rest for 10 minutes, then carve and serve with my simple salad and focaccia to mop up all those delicious juices.
SERVES 4
TIP When storing leftover roast chicken, keep the drippings and drizzle it over the chicken. This will give it lots of flavour and keep it moist!
Roasted garlic herb butter
This garlic butter uses four whole bulbs of garlic – yes, that’s bulbs not cloves – that have been roasted to caramelised perfection. No matter what you use this garlic butter in – cheesy garlic bread, roast chicken, stuffed crumbed chicken – you will find yourself asking for more. It uses lots of cheese and parsley that give it a sharp flavour and a vibrant green colour.
Ingredients
- 4 garlic bulbs
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil sea salt flakes
- freshly ground black pepper
- 250 g salted butter, at room temperature, chopped
- 40 g flat-leaf parsley (about 1 bunch)
- 40 g parmesan, grated
Preheat the oven to 200°C conventional (180°C fan-forced).
Using a sharp knife, slice the top off the garlic bulb, about 2–3 cm down from the top, to expose the raw cloves. Place the bulbs of garlic onto a large sheet of foil and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, then wrap the bulbs with the foil. Bake for 1 hour.
Leave the garlic to slightly cool until you are able to handle it. Using your fingers, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
In a food processor, place the roasted garlic, butter, parsley, parmesan and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Blitz until all the ingredients are smooth and well combined.
Scoop the butter onto a large piece of baking paper and roll it into a tight log. Store in the fridge for several weeks.
MAKES 400–450 G