Julius Roberts’ New Cookbook ‘The Farm Table’: Review

Each season’s recipes channel their essence —the earthiness and abundance of autumn, the verdant zinginess of spring (baked fish with herbs, lemon and asparagus or a courgette frittata with goat cheese, lemon, mint). There are tarts and pies, soups and stews, and many warming dishes. (Baked vacherin with Swiss chard and pink fir apple potatoes? Yes please). None of it feels fussy or time consuming, but with a farm to run, why would it?

This writer has already become obsessed with Roberts’ plum jam, which uses half the amount of sugar of a typical recipe and adds aromatic fig leaves into the mix. Elsewhere, as anyone who has pored over the farmer’s videos will know, you may want to adjust the amount of extra virgin olive oil being generously poured into many dishes.But that is the point of this kind of cooking—it’s easily adjustable to your own tastes. Before you decide to cut back on the fat, though, perhaps give the following recipe a go.

Tarragon Roast Chicken Recipe

*Excerpted from The Farm Table

Ingredients

Serves 5

• 1 organic chicken
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 whole head of garlic
• 250ml quality double cream
• a 20g bunch of fresh tarragon, stalks removed, roughly chopped
• 1 large heaped tbsp Dijon mustard
• a glass of dry white wine

Method

Preheat your oven to 220°C fan [convection] and start by spatchcocking the chicken. To do this, turn it over and cut along one side of the spine from the tail to the neck. Then turn it over, open out the two sides and press down hard to flatten it. Your butcher will gladly do this for you. Lay the chicken in a large, high-sided roasting tray, season generously with salt on both sides and leave for an hour at room temperature so it loses the chill of the fridge.

When ready, generously drizzle the skin with olive oil and work it into all the nooks and crannies. Smash the head of garlic and hide the cloves underneath the chicken, then roast in the oven for 20–30 minutes, until the skin begins
to turn golden brown.

Meanwhile, mix the cream, tarragon and mustard in a bowl and season well with salt and pepper. After 20–30 minutes, turn the oven down to 140°C fan, take out the chicken and pour a generous glass of white wine into the tray. Then pour the tarragon cream all over the chicken and place back in the oven for 30–40 minutes until it’s ready. To judge when it’s cooked, I check the deepest part of the thigh with a temperature probe, looking for 65–70°C. If you don’t have one, prod this point with a skewer and ensure the juices run clear. At this point, remove from the oven and leave to rest for 15 minutes, covered loosely with a bit of foil. Carve straight into the tray and serve as you like, with lots of the sauce, garlic and a zingy green salad.

Julius Roberts’ The Farm Table is in bookstores now in the UK; the book launches in the US February 13, 2024.

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