You'll need a full six head of garlic if you plan on having a crack at this recipe, but don't worry – you won't need a truckload of toothpaste afterwards.

Nicole Cornell found the recipe in a book entitled 'The Garlic Cookbook’, and it's fair to say she's a fan.

“It does sound like a lot of garlic, but you cook it up and once it's roasted with the chicken it goes into a sauce,” she said.

“It's almost a gravy type of thing, and it makes the chicken absolutely delicious.” 

A family favourite that's brought out at big occasions like Christmas, Ms Cornell said it was a recipe that was relatively easy to pull together.

“It takes a while to cook, but it doesn't take a lot of effort,” she said.

“It's all in the garlic.

“Garlic is actually very good for you, there's a reason you have a lot of it in winter, it helps keep colds away, that sort of thing.

“You can do a lot of different things with garlic as well.

“Quite often we'll roast a whole head of garlic, squeeze out the cloves and use them in mashed potatoes, served with some brie cheese.

“It's very decadent, you wouldn't want to do that very often, but it also shows how versatile garlic can be.”

Don't let the title of the recipe fool you into thinking it's going to be a big ask – with relatively few ingredients, it's perfect as an easy Sunday roast.

“When I first saw it, initially I was wondering how it was going to come out,” Ms Cornell said.

“I have always liked trying different things though.

“Plus, it's quite a simple recipe, it's a Sunday roast with a difference.”

Luckily for the Border community, Ms Cornell isn’t limiting her talents to her own kitchen.

She has recently started volunteer work with Gateway Health, running cooking classes for African migrants, helping them adjust to cooking in Australia as ingredients they're used to using in their home countries aren’t as readily available.

“I’d been thinking of doing some volunteering for a while,” she said.

“Some have been here for a little while, some are fairly new arrivals to the area or Australia, and speak varying degrees of English.

“Gateway identified that there was a need to try and get them to be comfortable with local ingredients and find things they could cook for their family that were healthy, fast and cheap.

“It’s also a connection point for the worker to help them through all of that.

“It also helps with their English skills.”

INGREDIENTS

6 heads of garlic

1tbsp butter

3tbsp olive oil

1.8-2kg chicken

1tsp plain flour

5tbsp white port

2-3 fresh tarragon or rosemary sprigs

salt and  pepper

METHOD

Separate three heads of garlic into cloves and peel. Remove outer layer from the remaining heads. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Heat the butter and one tbsp of oil in a flameproof casserole dish into which the chicken and garlic will fit snugly. Brown the chicken over a medium heat, turning frequently, for 10-15 minutes.

Add the flour and cook, stirring, for one minute. Add the port. Tuck in garlic heads and cloves and herbs. Pour over remaining oil and season. Cover tightly and and cook for 1 ½ hours until cooked through.

Transfer to serving dish and discard herbs. Whisk garlic cloves into juices. Serve with garlic puree.