Chicken with garlic, blood orange and fennel salad

Here is my version of a wonderful French dish that translates as ‘chicken with 40 cloves of garlic’.

Chicken with lots of garlic alongside blood orange and fennel salad. Picture: Guy Baile

Here is my version of a wonderful French dish that translates as “chicken with 40 cloves of garlic”. The cloves steam inside their husks and are meltingly soft and mildly flavoured. Eat them by squeezing the soft garlic onto a forkful of chicken.

Chicken with lots of garlic

4 heads (bulbs) of garlic

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large free range chicken (about 2kg)

Handful flat-leaf parsley stems, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Separate heads of garlic and remove loose bits of papery husk, but don’t peel. Add oil to large lidded casserole dish; add chicken (turning to coat with oil), garlic and stems of parsley. Cover and cook in oven for about 75 minutes. Check every 20 minutes, making sure chicken doesn’t stick and garlic doesn’t brown too much. (If garlic is too coloured, remove it with a slotted spoon and return to casserole dish before serving). Leave to rest for 20 minutes before serving. Serve with garlic and any pan juices, along with orange and fennel salad and maybe leafy greens. Serves 6

Blood orange & fennel salad

3 blood oranges (or regular

oranges)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

½ small fennel bulb, trimmed

¼ red onion

Good-quality extra-virgin olive,

for drizzling

1 teaspoon snipped chives

Peel oranges and trim off all white pith. Slice crosswise into thin rounds, saving any juice. Place sliced oranges, reserved orange juice, lemon and lime juice in a bowl. Slice fennel and red onion very thinly. Place oranges on a plate and arrange fennel and onion over top. Spoon over reserved citrus juices, then drizzle with oil. Season to taste and garnish with chives. Serves 6

And to drink… A full-flavoured white, such as the 2014 Bloodwood chardonnay from Orange ($35)

Wine matches: Max Allen.