Name of Recipe: Garlicky Chicken adapted from recipe by Regan Burns
Number of People: 4 serves
Ingredients:
For garlic paste
1 head (about 20 cloves) garlic peeled
1 Tbl fresh thyme
½ tea salt
2 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil
Place garlic in bowl and chop speed 7, time 4 – 8 seconds. Scrape down the bowl. Add oil and thyme. Pulse speed 10 for 4 seconds. Remove from bowl but do not clean bowl.
For Chicken and garlic sauce
1 whole chicken no 16
2 heads of garlic, one whole and the other separated but left unpeeled
Extra-virgin olive oil for oiling chicken etc.
10 sprigs of fresh thyme
½ lemon cut into 4 wedges
1 stalk celery cut into 5 cm pieces
60 ml white wine
750 ml water
2 Tbl TM stock concentrate
Loaf of crusty bread home made of course.
Preparation:
Remove neck from chicken and the first two joints of the wings. Set aside.
Loosen the skin on the breast, legs and thighs of chicken. Distribute the garlic paste into the area under the skin.
Cut the top off the whole garlic, salt and pepper and drizzle with oil. Place in the chicken cavity with 5 sprigs of thyme. Tie legs together, careful to not make the bird too high for the varoma. Oil the skin of the bird and salt liberally.
Place the remaining thyme in the bottom of the varoma, place the bird on these, breast up. Put lemon and the unpeeled garlic around the bird.
In the bowl put the neck and wing pieces, wine, water, celery and stock. Set for temp varoma, speed slow, time 45 min.
Put varoma in place. If necessary place a small weight (I use my salt jar) on lid to hold it firm.
After 45 min test for done (temp 66C) If needed cook for a further 10 min.
Remove chicken to a cutting board to rest. Add all the ingredients from the varoma to the bowl set temp varoma, time 5 min speed 1. When reduced strain and reserve the garlic cloves.
While sauce reduces cut 4 to 8 thick slices of crusty bread. Coat one side with garlic infused olive oil. Place under griller to toast. Garlic infused oil can be made and kept by storing garlic cloves in a jar of extra-virgin olive oil or just crush 2-3 cloves in a small quantity (1/2 cup) of oil for this use.
To serve; either place the toast in a shallow bowl, top with a piece of chicken, pour some sauce over the top and garnish with several cooked garlic cloves. Or; serve chicken on plates with toast on the side.
Tips/Hints:
Goes well with a simple salad or steamed summer veggies.
Re the amount of garlic - the taste was not overpowering at all.
members' comments
Thermomixer - You can push down hard on the chicken's breastbone and break its ribs to help fit it into the Varoma.
