I created this
sandwich after an indulgent dinner of “Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic.” It
was quickly named as “the best chicken sandwich of my life.” A whole chicken is
cooked with, you’ve guessed it, 40 cloves of garlic and a generous cup (250ml)
of olive oil.
The
oil that remains after cooking is mixed with the fat from the bird and is
precious liquor. Here it is used to make an incredible garlic mayo. Together
with the smooshed roasted garlic, the roast meat, and lettuce spiked with
lemon, this really is the ultimate chicken sandwich.
Makes 6
INGREDIENTS
FOR
THE CHICKEN WITH 40 CLOVES OF GARLIC:
One 4½lb (2kg) good-quality oven-ready
chicken
Generous 1 cup (250ml) olive oil, plus
extra for drizzling
40 garlic cloves or thereabouts (that’s
about 4 whole bulbs), papery bits removed but not peeled
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (plus 2 extra
sprigs for the cavity)
2 bay leaves
A couple of lemon slices
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste (and
lots of it)
FOR
THE MAYO AND SANDWICHES:
2 large egg yolks
Leftover cooled oil from the roast
chicken and garlic cloves above
Lemon juice, to taste
12 slices sourdough bread
Curly endive or other bitter salad
leaves, to serve
To roast the chicken, first preheat the oven to
375°F (190°C) Gas 5.
Un-truss the chicken and remove all fat from the
cavity (if you look just inside, there are two blobs, one on either side—cut
them off). Drizzle a little olive oil over the whole chicken and rub it in.
Heat a large frying pan or skillet and use it to
brown the chicken, whole, as best you can (it won’t be browning in the oven, as
it will be covered with aluminum foil). Place the chicken in a roasting pan and
surround it with the garlic cloves, then add the sprigs of thyme and the bay
leaves. Stick the other thyme sprigs and the lemon slices inside the cavity.
Pour the olive oil around the chicken— don’t be tempted to use less oil.
Season the chicken very generously with salt and
pepper, then cover with foil and seal it tightly. Roast in the oven for 1½–2
hours, until cooked, basting it 2–3 times during cooking. The chicken is cooked
when you insert a skewer into the thickest part of the leg and, when pressed
gently, the juices run clear. The legs will also feel looser when the bird is
cooked.
Remove from the oven and rest the bird with its
legs in the air, covered with the foil, for about 15–20 minutes. Once rested,
let the chicken and garlic cool completely, then refrigerate until you are
ready to make the sandwiches (the roast chicken and garlic can, of course, be
served hot, and then any leftovers can be used to make fewer sandwiches, if you
prefer). The garlic-infused oil should be strained and then left to cool
completely, before using it to make the mayo for the sandwiches.
Once the oil is cold, make your mayonnaise. Put the egg yolks in a clean
bowl and whisk them together. Begin adding the garlic-infused oil a few drops
at a time, whisking as you do so and making sure each bit of oil is fully
incorporated before adding the next. As you whisk more oil in and the mayo
starts to thicken, you can start adding the oil in slightly larger quantities
until you are steadily adding it in a thin stream. The key with mayo is to be
cautious with the oil until you get a feel for making it. If you add too much
oil at once, the mixture will split (if this happens, don’t despair; take a
fresh egg yolk in a clean bowl and begin adding the split mixture into it, very
slowly, just as if it were the oil—this should bring it back). Stop when the
mayo reaches the desired thickness. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper, to
taste.
To assemble the sandwiches, remove all the
chicken meat from the carcass (discard the bones or use them to make
broth/stock) and then chop the meat into small dice.
Mix
the mayo with the diced chicken meat, then heap the mixture onto 6 slices of
the bread. Spread the roast garlic flesh (squeezed out of the skins) on the
other bread slices. Add some curly endive or other bitter salad leaves, tossed
with a generous amount of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Sandwich together
and serve.
