Chicken with 40 garlic cloves

1.8 size chicken
salt and freshly ground black pepper
small bunch of herbs – bay leaf, sage, parsley, thyme and rosemary
40 unpeeled garlic cloves (see note)
1/4 cup olive oil
toasted slices of baguette (long French bread), for serving

1. Remove any excess fat from the chicken, wash and pat dry. Rub the salt and pepper over the outside of the chicken. Stuff the chicken with the herbs and 4 whole, unpeeled garlic cloves.
2. Place the oil into a casserole dish, pour in the oil and remaining garlic cloves. Heat gently until the oil is warm. Put the chicken into the dish and turn so it is coated with oil. Put the lid on the casserole dish and bake in a moderate (180°C) oven for about 1 1/2 hours or until cooked.
3. Serve the chicken with the juices and the baked garlic cloves. You can eat the garlic flesh, which squeezes out of the jacket like a soft paste. It’s great spread onto slices of toasted baguette (French stick).
Note: yes, it’s not a mistake – you need 40 cloves of garlic for this recipe. During the cooking the garlic becomes sweet and soft, and the flavour is very different from the ‘regular’ garlic flavour you know. This ’40 cloves’ method also works very well with lamb.

Great garlic bread

Everyone loves garlic bread – and that’s how lots of kids have their first experience of enjoying garlic. But it can be tricky to get right, so try this method, that gives you a crunchy result every time. Cut 150g butter into dice then let it soften at room temperature for 1 hour. Mash the butter to a soft paste, then stir in 6 teaspoons finely chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves and a generous grind of sea salt and black pepper. Cut some baguettes (French bread sticks) into slices and butter both sides with the garlic butter. Loosely wrap the bread sticks in foil (but don’t wrap foil tightly or the bread will be oily, leave some of the bread exposed to the air) then bake in a 180° oven for 20 minutes. The bread will come out crisp and garlicky every time.

Copyright CTC Productions 2008