Roast Thistleyhaugh chicken with three-cornered garlic
We get the best chicken ever from an organic farm in Northumberland. The chickens are a bit too big for us to serve as a whole in the restaurant, so we split them in half. For this recipe, we use three-cornered garlic or wild garlic, which both grow wild. The three-cornered is in season Feb-June, and the wild March-July. Chives are a reasonable replacement for either, though each have their own distinct flavour.
Author: Simon Hicks, The Lord Crewe Arms
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 3.8 litres water
- 200g salt
- 2.5kg organic chicken
- 125g butter
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp three-cornered garlic leaves (or wild garlic leaves or chives)
Method
- Heat 800ml water with the salt until the salt has dissolved.
- Mix with the rest of the water and allow to cool.
- Put the chicken in and leave for 2 hours.
- Then remove it and leave to dry.
- To spatchcock the chicken, place on a chopping board with the cavity facing you.
- Using a large knife, separate the legs from the backbone by cutting through the hip joint.
- This should not take too much pressure.
- If it is not giving way, keep on searching for the right joint.
- Once the legs are separated, slide the knife through the rest of the cavity alongside the backbone.
- Crack through the ribs and remove the backbone.
- Flatten the chicken, pressing down on the breastbone.
- Place the chicken on a large roasting tray, breast side up.
- Brush all over with softened butter and season.
- Roast in a preheated oven at 210C/Gas 7 for 40-50 mins (depending on the size of the chicken).
- Once cooked, allow to rest for 10 mins.
- Reserve the butter and juices and whisk in the garlic leaves/chives and serve with the chicken.
- Serve with simple greens and buttermilk mashed potatoes.
