Weekend Foodie: Wild garlic chicken for a taste of the season

Sat, 03 May, 2025 - 07:27

The start of May means summer is officially here. This month brings forth the best wild flowers like foxgloves, daisies and all manner of colourful blooms lining the hedgerows.

It also means parts of the countryside are lined with a carpet of wild garlic, a free food there for the foraging!

I’ve had a patch of wild garlic growing in my garden for 13 years, and each year it provides soft mildly garlic scented and flavoured leaves to add to many savoury dishes. As it blooms with little white flowers, these can be picked and added to salads for a pretty decoration.

This Bank Holiday weekend, get the folks out for a foraging session. You’ll know you’ve found wild garlic when you get that distinct scent of garlic on the breeze! The leaves are wide, tapering to a point, and very soft. Rub them and smell their distinct aroma.

Never gather it from busy roads where car pollution contaminates the leaves. Choose quiet hedgerows and country lanes where there is little traffic. And always rinse the leaves well and shake dry before use.

This weekend, I’m preparing a roast chicken dish with wild garlic and pistachios, served with peas and tomatoes for a summery feel.

Keeping the summer theme, I’m making one of my favourite desserts. Creme Brulee is a cooked cream dessert, cooled and set then finished with a crackly caramelised sugar topping. I love the satisfaction of hearing that top break when you dig the spoon in! This version has some fresh strawberries in the base of the dishes for a seasonal slant.

WILD GARLIC AND PISTACHIO TOPPED ROAST CHICKEN

Ingredients (Serves 4)

1.5kg free range chicken
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:

Good handful wild garlic leaves
1 tbsp shelled roasted pistachios, chopped
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the peas:

350g frozen peas
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
Generous knob of butter
Few fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped (optional)
1 tbsp shelled pistachio nuts, chopped, to decorate

Method

Wipe the chicken inside out and place in a roasting tray.
Drizzle with olive oil and season.
Cover with foil and roast in a pre-heated oven, Gas 5 375F 190C, allowing 40mins per kg plus about 20 minutes extra.
While the chicken is cooking, mix the dressing.
Roughly chop the wild garlic leaves and place in a jar. Add nuts, olive oil and seasoning. Put a lid on the jar and shake together. Reserve.
To test if the chicken is cooked, the thighs should wiggle loosely in the sockets and have no sign of pink juices when the thickest part is pierced with a skewer.
Pour the wild garlic dressing over the chicken and return to the oven for another five minutes. Remove and set aside to rest while you prepare the peas.
Place peas and tomatoes in a pan with butter, seasoning and a splash of oil. Cover with a lid and cook gently for a few minutes, till the peas and tomatoes are heated through and softened. Shake the pan occasionally. Season and add mint, if using.
Place the chicken on a warmed serving platter and spoon the peas and tomatoes around. Scatter over extra chopped pistachios to serve.

STRAWBERRY CREME BRULEE

Ingredients

300mls cream
Few drops vanilla essence
2 large fresh free range egg yolks
2 tbsp caster sugar, or to taste
12 whole strawberries, halved
2-3 tbsp soft brown sugar to finish
Extra whole strawberries to serve

Creme Brulee is a cooked cream dessert, cooled and set then finished with a crackly caramelised sugar topping

Method

Heat cream with vanilla essence very gently till just below simmering point. Don’t let it boil.
Set aside to infuse and cool.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar till light and creamy.
Pour on the cooled cream and whisk together.
Place a few berries into the bases of four ramekin dishes.
Pour over the cream mix to fill the dishes equally.
Place dishes in a roasting tray half filled with water and bake at Gas 4 350F 180C for 20 minutes or until the custard is just set but still a little wobbly in the centre.
Remove from oven, lift out of tray and cool and chill.
When ready to serve, sprinkle the top of each ramekin with sugar to cover.
Place under a pre-heated grill till sugar is melted and caramelised. Remove and leave to cool till tops are set and crackly.
Serve with extra strawberries on the side.

THE WEEKEND GARGLE

For the sunny long weekend to come - fingers crossed - I’m looking to the warm climes of Australia for a typical Oz Chardonnay that brings summer flavours to the glass. Kooliburra Australian Chardonnay is full bodied and packed with fruit notes. Ripe pineapple and peach flavours, with a little rounded smoothness on the finish, this makes a perfect sip with the roast chicken. This is a great outdoor wine, and the screw top closure means you don’t have to go looking for a corkscrew! Screw tops are much more common these days. They give a clean finish by cutting down on contamination from faulty corks. Find Kooliburra Australian Chardonnay in Aldi stores now, a real bargain at just €7.40 a bottle. Perfect for summer drinking with roast chicken, cold chicken salads and even grilled prawns from the barbie.

Receipt

Mains

Free range chicken whole 1.5kg:€7.99

Wild garlic: free

Roasted pistachios 200g pack: €2.49

Extra virgin olive oil 1ltr:€5.69

Frozen peas 1kg: €1.09

Cherry tomatoes 250g: .99c

Total: €18.25

Dessert

Cream: €2.39

Free range eggs half dozen: €2.25