Robin Ellis

A month to go to the publication of  “Delicious Dishes for Diabetics–a Mediterranean Way of Eating“.

Our local garlic [l’ail rose, pink! ] harvest is almost over and the fields are stacked with tresses waiting to go to the barns for drying.

It’s a longer lasting garlic than the violet or white–that’s what Alice (maker of the garlic soup) says and adds “it’s Lautrec’s fortune.”

The air smells garlicky–pleasantly so–and it reminds me of this dish: Chicken with 40 cloves of Garlic.

The recipe is reproduced from the coming book.

This is a traditional recipe from southwest France, and particularly good with the pink-sheathed garlic grown all round us.

The bird sits on the garlic for a couple of hours and hatches a beautiful dish. It also can’t fail to be a conversation piece – as people may feel nervous about those 40 cloves of garlic!

They have little to fear; it is soft and sweet after the cooking.

Serve with some brown basmati rice perhaps, a salad or green vegetable.

1 chicken – washed and thoroughly dried

salt and pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

about 40 large garlic cloves (new season garlic is best) – left unpeeled

2 fennel bulbs – outer leaves removed and halved

sprigs of rosemary, sage, parsley, thyme and a couple of bay leaves

½ small wine glass of white wine [don’t be tempted ;-)]

1 tbsp chickpea flour

Serves 4

Heat the oven at 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.

• Season the chicken well with salt and pepper.
• Gently brown it in a tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan.
• Remove the chicken to a plate.
• Put the garlic and all the remaining ingredients except the wine and the flour in a casserole, add two tablespoons of olive oil and turn everything thoroughly in it
• Place the chicken on top and dribble over it some more olive oil and an extra sprinkling of salt.
• Make a paste with a spoonful of flour and some water.
• Carefully spread the paste round the rim of the lid of the casserole – this seals it.
• After 2 hours’ cooking, gingerly lift the lid and remove the chicken and the meltingly soft garlic to a serving platter.
• Spoon off all but a tablespoon of the oil and deglaze the casserole with the white wine.
• Reduce this sauce a little and transfer it to a small jug.

Yes, do eat the garlic too!