lemon and garlic chicken
Incredible, amazing will 100% do this time and time again. I highly recommend you try this, it was so tender and tasty. I serves it with roast potatoes and roast veggies. Definitely cook with a heavy-base pot/ pan.
recipe
1 lemon, halved
1.2 kg whole chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 eschalots, peeled
1 head garlic, halved
2 cups (500ml) riesling
1 cup (250ml) chicken stock
2 tablespoons tarragon leaves
Place the lemon in the cavity of the chicken and secure the legs with kitchen string. Brush the chicken with half the oil. Heat a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining oil, eschalots and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until starting to carmelise. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the chicken and cook breast-side down for 5 minutes or until golden. Turn and cook for a further 5 minutes. Return the garlic and eschalots to the pan, add the wine and stock, stir and bring to the boil. reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for a further 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the tarragon to serve. Serves 4.
Donna Hay Seasons – The best of Donna Hay Magazine pg 264
The Face of Flavour 
Serious holes in the recipe. Seasoning? What to do with the (copious) liquid at the end? What to do with the shallots/garlic? I am also not being a dick. As I write, this dish is simmering on my stove and these are the questions I’m asking myself.
Thanks for the note and yes those are great questions. There is a lot of liquid in this recipe. Personally I used it as a base of soup. It was full of flavour. As for the shallots/ garlic I personally enjoyed eating it. How did the recipe pan out for you? Other than the liquid did you enjoy the chicken?
It was very good. Made a sauce out of the braising liquid, and just served the garlic and shallots with the other vegetables. I would seriously add a seasoning step at the beginning, though. Partly because the salt will help with crisping the skin. Also – this may seem a small point – you should move the chicken while browning the breast. I left mine alone, and the skin stuck to the pan, meaning that the presentation of the bird wasn’t as nice. I just wish Donna would add more small tips to a recipe, rather than religiously fitting four recipes onto a page 🙂 Anyway, will make this again. The missus and I both liked it a lot.
So glad you liked it. I too agree that while Donna Hay’s recipes are uncomplicated they could certainly offer more of a step by step. Great suggestion on moving the chicken. I’ll keep these comments on the blog for other readers to learn from your experience. Have a great evening.
The recipe calls for a 1.2kg whole chicken. That is a very small chicken! We are cooking a very small Foster Farm chicken and my wife gave up and is cooking some eggs for herself as the chicken is not done yet.. We both agree it smells very good. In the USA don’t make the mistake we did and not convert kg’s into lbs.
Amazing what conversion does for a recipe. After the smaller version was done did it taste good?
Yes, the chicken was very good. It just took longer than we thought. Martin has a good point about moving the chicken. Maybe a bit more olive oil would help. We are going to cook it again as we thought the taste was excellent. We are thinking about cooking two Cornish Game Hens and adjust the ingredients accordingly.
Sounds delicious keep me posted on how they turn out.