Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, 1.6-1.8 kg
• 80 g softened butter
• 1 garlic bulb plus 2 cloves
• 8 thyme sprigs
• 8 sage leaves
• 1 lemon
• 1.2 kg potatoesall-purpose, sliced 2 to 3 mm, ideally on a mandoline
• 400 ml double cream
• 200 ml whole milk
• 80 g Parmesan
• 250 ml chicken stock
• 2 tsp fine salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. 01

   Make the herb butter

   Heat the oven to 190 C / 170 C fan. Mash the softened butter with the 2 grated garlic cloves, the leaves from half the thyme, the chopped sage, and plenty of salt and pepper.

   80 g softened butter · 1 garlic bulb plus 2 cloves

2. 02

   Butter under the skin

   Slide your fingers between the skin and the breast of the chicken to loosen it, working carefully so you do not tear it, and push about two thirds of the herb butter underneath, smoothing it flat from the outside. Rub the rest over the skin. Butter under the skin bastes the meat as it melts; butter on top simply runs into the tray.

3. 03

   Fill and roast

   Halve the lemon and put it in the cavity with the remaining herbs. Sit the chicken in a roasting tray with the whole garlic bulb, top trimmed, alongside. Roast for 70-90 minutes depending on size, until the juices from the thigh run clear and a probe in the thickest part of the thigh reads 74 C.

4. 04

   Rest it well

   Move the chicken to a board, cover loosely with foil and rest for at least 20 minutes. This is not optional. Carved straight from the oven, the juices run out onto the board instead of staying in the meat.

   Twenty minutes of restCarve it straight from the oven and the juices end up on the board.

5. 05

   Bake the dauphinoise

   While the chicken roasts, warm the cream and milk with a crushed garlic clove, salt and pepper until steaming. Layer the thinly sliced potatoes in a buttered dish, pour the cream over, press down so the top layer is submerged and scatter with the Parmesan. Bake at 190 C for 60-70 minutes, until a knife slides through with no resistance and the top is blistered and deep gold.

   400 ml double cream · 200 ml whole milk · 1.2 kg potatoes · 80 g Parmesan

6. 06

   Build the gravy in the tray

   Squeeze the roasted garlic into the chicken tray, add the stock and set it over a medium hob, scraping up every caramelised patch. Simmer for 5-8 minutes until glossy and slightly reduced, then strain if you want it smooth.

   250 ml chicken stock

   Do not wash the trayEverything stuck to it is the gravy. Start the dauphinoise first; it takes longer than you think.

7. 07

   Carve and serve

   Carve the rested chicken on a board with a groove to catch the juices: take the legs off first by cutting through the joint, then run the knife down each side of the breastbone and lift the breasts off whole before slicing them thickly across the grain. Slicing the breast off the bone rather than carving it in place keeps it moist and gives you neater slices. Tip any juices from the board into the gravy, and serve with the dauphinoise.

   Slice 2 to 3 mm, evenlyUneven slices give a dauphinoise raw in places and collapsing in others.