40 Clove Roast Chicken

So a few of us were talking at work the other day about what we were going to cook for dinner. I said, the challenge is to cook in one pot (aka less washing up). So one bright spark suggested; why not do a 40 clove chicken? (You know who you are Daniel) :-) Yes that's right, 40 cloves of garlic in white wine and stock with a chicken on top, slow roasted for about 2 hours. All very very delightful. The chicken is incredibly moist becuase it is steam roasted and just falls apart. It is absolutely the most decadent, rich and moist roast chicken I have ever had (and no it does not have an over powering garlic smell). It is just unreal. Well worth the effort! :-)
This roast took about 40 minutes to prepare and cooked for 90 minutes on top of the stove.

Ingredients:

• 
  
  1 x free range Roasting Chicken (biggest I could find).
  
  
  
• 1 x tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 x carrots (Not for eating. They serve as a trivett under the bird while roasting).
• 1 x cup of white wine
• 1 x cup of chicken stock
• 3 x whole bulbs of garlic (about 40 cloves)
• 1 x 200 gram carton of cream

Gluten Free Stuffing:

• 1 x 160 gram bag of Spinach leaves
• 1 x 80 gram bag of pine nuts
• 4 x shallots
• 1 x egg
• 4 x strips of gluten free bacon (cooked)
• 3 x slices of gluten free bread

Method:

• Firstly, learn from my mistake. Check that your bird will fit in the pot and the lid goes on tight when there's a few whole carrots in the base of the pot. (I misjudged mine twice).
• Wash the insides of the bird out under the kitchen tap then place it upside down to drain.
• Wear disposable gloves or your hands will smell of garlic for days because you're going to be handling a lot of it.
• Sit down with a small paring knife and patiently separate and peel your 40 cloves of garlic.
• Slice 2 whole carrrots down the middle and place them in the bottom of the pot.
• Add 1 x tablespoon of olive oil
• Add all your garlic cloves
• Pour over 1 x cup of white white and the1 x cup of chicken stock. There needs to be enough to cover all the carrot and garlic cloves as it is the gentle heating in the stock that will remove that over powering garlic smell.

Prepare Your Stuffing:

• Okay this part is incredible easy... place the spinach, pine nuts, shallotts, egg, bacon and bread into your food processor and pulverise for around 1 minute.
• It should form a thick heavy paste (think green peanut paste) that you can now scoop up with your hands and stuff inside the bird cavity.

Tie Your Chicken:

• Because it's steam roasted, the chicken will fall apart when it's cooked.  To try and keep some semblance of shape, I recommend tieing up the bird with cooking twine to hold the legs and wings in place.

Time To Slow Roast:

• Place your prepared chicken in the pot on top of the carrot/garlic base.
• You want to retain as much moisture as possibl, so tear off a piece of grease proof paper / cooking paper larger than the lid of the pot. Scrunch it up and roll it in a ball under the cold water tap so you end up with a floppy piece of strong wet paper (10 seconds under the tap).
• Give it a light squeeze, unfurl it, and place it across the top of your pot then place the lid on tightly (sandwiched in by the paper).
• Place on a medium heat and cook your roast chicken for 90 minutes (or until cooked).
• Check it every 30 minutes.

Prepare Some Roast Vegetables:

• You should have some time on your hands while the main bird is roasting away. So prepare some peeled potatoes, pumpkin and carrots in a tray.
• Sprinkle with salt pepper and herbs.
• Drizzle the whole lot with a liberal splashing of balsamic vinegar. (The vinegar will caramelise and make the vegetables sweet).
• Roast the vegatable in the oven for around 40 minutes.

Make a Gravy:

• When it's ready, remove the chicken, but leave everything else in the pot.
• All of those juices will make an extra decadent gravy for the bird.
• Pour about 1 x cup of the juice into your blender
• Do not add any garlic cloves.
• Add 1 x cup of cream and blend it for 1 minute until it's a smoothe consitency. (Remember it's hot. Be extra extra careful blending hot liquid foods).
• Pour it into a gravy boat ready for serving

Serving:

• This is a great meal for a dinner party because it impresses. So play it up a bit :-).
• Place the bird on a large platter that you've warmed under the griller.
• Surround it with the roasted vegetables.
• Enjoy with family and friends.  (Serve with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc).

The ingredients...