I adore cooking with garlic and so I couldn’t wait to try out some recipes from my new cook book, quite literally titled ‘Garlic’ by Jenny Linford, published by Ryland Peters & Small. It’s such a pretty book, with over 65 recipes, broken down into six chapters: Mellow, Sunshine, Comfort, Fiery, Go Wild and Celebratory.

I decided to try out a recipe from the ‘Mellow’ section – Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. Yes, you read that right, 40 cloves! Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients – serves 6

1.8kg/4 lb free-range chicken

25g/1 and a half tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

40 garlic cloves, separated but unpeeled.

100ml/one third of a cup of vermouth or dry white wine

freshly squeezed juice of half a lemon

200ml/1 cup good-quality chicken stock

a handful of fresh tarragon sprigs

salt and freshly ground black pepper

A lidded flameproof casserole dish, large enough to hold the chicke

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large frying pan/skillet. Add the chicken and brown on all sides. Save the pan juices.

Meanwhile, heat the casserole dish on the stovetop. Transfer the browned chicken to the casserole dish. Tuck some of the garlic cloves into the cavity, sprinkle the rest around the chicken and pour over the vermouth or wine. Allow to sizzle briefly, then pour in the buttery juices from the frying pan/skillet, the lemon juice and stock. Add the tarragon, placing a few sprigs inside the cavity.

Bring to the boil on the stovetop, then cover with the lid and transfer the casserole to the preheated oven. Bake, covered, for 1 hour 20 minutes-1 hour 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through the juices run clear.

Transfer the chicken to a serving dish. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the garlic cloves to the dish. Pour the juices into a serving jug/pitcher to use as a gravy, skimming off any excess fat. Serve the chicken with the garlic cloves and gravy.

We just loved this dish – the chicken was moist and so tasty. The garlic doesn’t overpower the dish, it just makes it incredibly flavoursome. Fancy giving it a go? Let me know what you think in the comments!

If you fancy checking out the book for yourself, you can find out more info and where to buy it here.

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I was sent the book to review by Ryland Peters & Small, but did not receive any payment. All views are my own.