As seen in Root & Bone Magazine Issue 4 and as served at the #salonxellypear event at Salon, Brixton in August 2014
For the dressing
2 anchovy fillets
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 medium, ripe avocado
Juice of ½ a lemon
60ml olive oil
120ml homemade or good quality bought mayonnaise
Big pinch Maldon salt
Blitz first four ingredients. Add avocado and lemon juice. Blitz. Add oil, mayo and salt. Blitz until silky. Store in fridge with cling film pressed onto surface until needed. Thin with water before serving if too thick.
For the chicken
1 medium happy chicken
2 tbsp Olive oil
½ a lemon
Small bunch of thyme
Maldon salt
Black pepper
Pre heat your oven as hot as it will go. Pour the oil over the surface of the chicken and massage it in. Squeeze the half lemon over the chicken and push the spent lemon in to
the cavity, along with the thyme. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the surface of the chicken and throw some inside too. Put the bird in a greaseproof paper lined baking tray and put it into the oven. Immediately turn down to 180C. Roast for 1hr20 to 1hr45, depending on size, basting halfway through. Reserve pan juices.
For crackling
Dried herbs de Provence
When the chicken is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin, keeping it in as much of a single piece as possible. Lay the pieces of skin fleshy side up on a baking tray and sprinkle with the dried herbs. Put back in the oven at 180C for 10 minutes. Remove to cool and it will crisp right up.
For the salad
Baby cos or romaine lettuce (¼ to ½ a lettuce per person)
A large handful of ½” cubes of stale sourdough bread, roasted with olive oil until golden
100g finely grated parmesan
1 diced avocado
The roast chicken, shredded from carcass and tossed in pan juices
Remove the larger outer leaves from the lettce and cut into inch thick ribbons. Put some of the dressing into a large bowl and add the lettuce ribbons. Toss well to coat.
Cut the hearts of the lettuce into wedges
Arrange the wedges around the edges of a large serving bowl or platter or on individual small plates. Pile the dressed lettuce in the centre and layer up with the shredded chicken, avocado cubes, croutons and grated parmesan. Add extra dollops of dressing around the bowl and top with massive shards of herby crackling.
Serve.