Roast Chicken, asparagus & Garlic puree
Recipe by: Ryan Spurrell & Sarah Cremona, Orson Dining
The humble roast chicken has some new flair. As we move from winter to spring this dish was meant to straddle both seasons. Chicken, from our local butchers, is in its prime for winter, the season for chicken, together with new season asparagus and an earthy but fresh puree of spinach and garlic, sourced from Peninsula Organics, some in season roast potatoes from Hawkes Farm never go astray.
- Winter, Spring
Components; Roast Chicken, Asparagus Spears, Garlic Puree & Chicken Sauce
Roast Chicken
- 1 Chicken (1.6kg to 2kg)
- 10g salt
- 1L water
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 Brown onion
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Celery stick
- 2 Clove Garlic
- ½ Leek
- 8 Sprigs thyme
- 1 Bay leaf
Asparagus Spears
- 12 Asparagus spears
- 2Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Lemon
- Salt
Garlic Puree
- 2 heads Garlic
- 2 bunch English spinach
- 80ml Extra virgin olive oil
- Pepper
- 8 Pepper corns
Chicken Sauce
- Reserved pan from chicken
- 100ml White wine
- 500ml Chicken stock
Roast Chicken
To prepare the chicken by removing the wing tips, neck and wish bone, trim off any excess fat and skin.
Whisk together 10g salt with 1L water, submerge chicken for 30 min then remove
Place uncovered in the fridge overnight to allow the skin to dry and reserve all the trimmings.
Preheat the oven to 180oC, remove chicken from the fridge and allow to temper.
Peel you onion and carrot and cut into 2cm pieces along with your celery and leeks, place into a roasting tray. Crush your garlic cloves and add to the vegetables with the thyme, bay leaf and pepper corns. Add in the chicken trim reserved from the day before.
For the chicken lightly coat in olive oil and season with salt and pepper and place on top of the vegetable.
Place into the oven for 45min until golden.
Remove from the oven and place the chicken on a resting tray cover with foil, leave to rest.
Reserve the pan of roasted vegetables and trim for the sauce
Asparagus Spears
Remove the woody stems from the asparagus by holding the top and the tail and bending until it snaps.
Place a heavy based saucepan over a high heat and allow to get hot
Add your asparagus to the dry pan and allow to start to charr.
Once charring starts add the oil and cook for 2 min, remove from the heat zest the lemon over than squeeze in the juice.
Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Garlic Puree
Place garlic onto a tray and into your oven at 180oC for 15min
Bring a medium pot of salted water to the boil.
Remove the stems from the spinach and rinse well to remove any excess dirt and sand.
Remove the garlic from the oven and allow to cool until you are able to handle, cut the top of and squeeze out the roasted cloves into a blender.
Blanch the spinach in the salted water for 1 min, remove and allow as much water to drain as possible, press with a spoon if needed to remove excess.
Place into your blender with the garlic and blend on high until smooth, slowly add the oil near the end to emulsify.
Adjust the seasoning to taste and remove from the blender.
Chill in the fridge on a flat tray or serve immediately.
Chicken Sauce
For the sauce, place your tray of vegetables on your stove on a medium heat.
Once the vegetables start to sizzle add the white wine and stir with a wooden spoon to lift all of the colour(flavour) from the bottom of the tray, reducing the wine by ½.
Add the chicken stock and bring to the boil, allow to simmer for 5min.
Strain into a saucepan and press out as much liquid as possible, reduce this liquid down to the desired consistency.
If the sauce looks like it will be to little you can thicken with a cornflour slurry.