Adapted from the New York Times Passover cookbook and inspired by my childhood!
Here is the funny thing, this is one of those recipes that I grew up knowing about, like crapes Suzette and chicken Marbella it had its heyday in the 70’s. A recipe first imaged by James Beard in 1974, it is so easy and the idea of 40 cloves of garlic so eccentric – it keeps coming back. In terms of Jewish cooking it’s got all our favourites, chicken, fat and a shed load of garlic!
Ingredients:
- 40 cloves of garlic, separated but not peeled (from about 3 ½ – 4 heads)
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) + 2 tablespoons + a drizzle of olive oil
- Salt and coarse ground pepper
- Pinch of sugar
- 10 tablespoons fresh ‘soft’ herbs, chopped; any combination of,parsley, coriander, chives, tarragon, thyme, basil (but be sure not to use too much of just one herb)
- 1 whole chicken, trimmed and cleaned
Method:
Preheat oven to 220 °C (425 °F, gas mark 7).
In a medium bowl mix together the cloves of garlic, with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and a healthy pinch of sugar.
Place half a cup of Olive oil into a oven safe pot with a tight fitting lid, add the chicken season the chicken with salt, pepper and olive oil rubbed into the skin. Place the garlic cloves around the chicken, top the chicken with the chopped herbs, cover the pot and cook for an hour, until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clean.
