Roast Garlic Chicken on Potato and Leek Gratin

If you enjoy a delicious home roasted chook, a potato gratin, and leeks, then you will love this dish. If you aren't fond of garlic or can't eat it, then leave it out and just use salted pure butter mixed with fresh herbs. It will still be delicious. All of those elements cooked in one baking dish, and the result is a dish that's perfection for a dinner party and quite economical when shopping for ingredients.

This is a recipe developed by the iconic Australian cook, Donna Hay. When I saw this recipe come across my email, I was interested straight away. It's my kind of comfort meal with stacks of homely flavours. I baked it for Mr. HRK and myself, and we've had two delicious meals from it. I really suggest you read my cooking notes though, because there are a few interesting aspects and helpful hints about cooking this recipe that I have mentioned there.

I still love to bake a chicken at home, but how many people still do? These days, it is such an easy option to pick up a cooked chook at the supermarket when we go shopping for dinner that evening. At $14 each, it makes for an expensive chicken dinner, however it is always about the convenience, and I have to admit, they do smell good.  Does anyone really enjoy the stuffing in those supermarket cooked chooks though? We certainly don't. Chicken used to be an extravagant meat option, back when I was growing up, and many of us had backyard chicken pens. They are the chooks we ate, and often it was for Christmas dinner that we often ate our home grown chicken. How times have changed, with beef now being the expensive option. Raw chickens can be found for very reasonable prices at the supermarkets these days, and will easily feed a family of 4 or 5. Baking your own whole chicken is an economical option. 

If I bake a chicken myself in my oven, I will always stuff it with a bread, butter and mixed herb stuffing. An egg goes in there too. It would involve another step, and more ingredients, but the chicken in this recipe could also be stuffed if there is bread that needs to be used. It would add another element to the dish, and the chicken would need to be trussed up very securely, but it would add another layer of interest and flavour.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

Select a deep 25cm x 30cm (10 inch x 12 inch) baking dish. Close enough is good enough here.

1 TABLESPOON CHOPPED TARRAGON LEAVES, PLUS 4 SPRIGS EXTRA (parsley could even be used instead if tarragon is unavailable, or if you don't like the tarragon flavour)

80G BUTTER, SOFTENED

SEA SALT AND CRACKED BLACK PEPPER

1 X 1.3 - 1.5 KG WHOLE CHICKEN

1/2 LEMON, CUT INTO WEDGES

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, FOR DRIZZLING

ROAST GARLIC

3 LARGE HEADS GARLIC

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL TO DRIZZLE

SEA SALT FLAKES (I used Pink Himalayan Salt)

POTATO AND LEEK GRATIN

1 KG STARCHY POTATOES, PEELED AND THINLY SLICED (ABOUT 5)

2 LEEKS, TRIMMED AND CUT INTO THIN STRIPS

1 TABLESPOON THYME LEAVES

1 1/4 CUPS (310ML) HOT PURE CREAM  

METHOD:

To make the roast garlic, preheat the oven to 180 deg. C (350 deg F)

Place each knob or head of garlic on a sheet of aluminium foil, enough to wrap each one up. then drizzle those heads with extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with your salt.  Then wrap them up so they are enclosed.

Place the garlic aluminium bundles on a baking tray and roast for 40 minutes or until soft and golden, and remove from the oven. 

Leave the hot garlic to cool for at least 10 minutes until cool enough to handle, and then squeeze the skins allowing the garlic to ooze out. At this stage those garlic heads, are finger lickin' good.

Discard the garlic skins. 

If you plan to put this garlic aside for a while and use it later, transfer it to a sterilised glass jar. Please see my Cook's notes later on for more about this. I didn't need to do this step, as I was ready to make the garlic butter pretty much straight away, and start assembling the chicken.

This collage below shows the leek and thyme prepared in the baking dish, the garlic heads prepared for the oven, roasted, and then the roasted garlic mashed with the tarragon, butter, salt and pepper. the garlic is sweet when it is cooked in this way.

Combine 2 tablespoons mashed roast garlic (which is exactly what I had), tarragon or parsley, butter, salt and pepper. Loosen the skin which is covering the chicken breast, I used my hand, but if you aren't happy doing that, use the back of spoon, but gently does it. 

Grab a small spoon, and place the garlic butter under the skin of the chicken. Gently pat the skin at the end of the process, to even out the garlic butter under the skin.

Fill the cavity of the chicken with the extra lemon and the tarragon sprigs. I had run out of tarragon, so I used some chopped sage. Or add a stuffing. 

Cut off a piece of kitchen string, and tie the chook's legs together. I also like to use a couple of skewers to firmly close the opening to the cavity , and push the parson's nose into the cavity. Mum always called it the parson's nose, doesn't everybody? This is now a very well trussed up chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil.

It's time to make the Potato and Leek Gratin. Place the potato, leek and thyme in a deep 25cm x 30 cm (10 inch x 12 inch) baking dish. Heat up your cream in the microwave, about 2 minutes, and pour it over the potato.

Place the chicken on top of the potato and leek gratin, give it a light coating of olive oil,  and roast for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, or until the chicken and potatoes are tender and cooked through.

I served our Roast Chicken dish with freshly picked silverbeet from our garden, and cooked in the microwave oven with butter and grated nutmeg. Delicious. We love eating it that way.

Cook's notes:

1. My ceramic baking dish could probably have been deeper, but there was no overflow.
2. My chicken and potatoes needed 1 1/2 hours to be fully cooked. As well, the potato under the chicken probably won't have browned at the edges, so when the chook is cooked and test it with a skewer around the legs, you could remove the chicken from the baking tray, wrap it in alfoil, and put aside for about 10 minutes. Then pop the potato gratin back in the oven, turn the heat up to 200 deg C and let it cook for another 10 minutes. All up you need to allow about 1 3/4 hours just in case to ensure everything is cooked. This all depends on your oven, the size of the chook and the potatoes.
3. Depending on the size of the garlic heads, the recipe will make about 100g (1/3 cup) of roasted garlic. Any remaining garlic mash can be stored in a sterilised glass jar. It is essential that additional roast garlic be stored in sterilised jars as soon as possible to reduce the risk of botulism. It mustn't be left out at room temperature for too long. It will keep in a sterilised jar in the  refrigerator for up to two weeks.
4. One of the easiest ways to sterilise jars is to preheat your oven to 120 deg C(250 deg F). Wash the jars and their metal lids in a bowl of soapy water, rinse them in clear water and place them on a lined baking tray. I use an old tea towel.  Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the jars to cool before filling unless filling them with hot liquids such as relishes and jams.
5. Even though tarragon is meant to be the dominant flavour for this dish, other herbs can also be used. I have often just used parsley and salted butter and spread it up under the skin of the chicken breast, and it is delicious. Add some mixed herbs to the surface of the chicken can to add extra flavour if you wish.

Happy cooking,

Pauline