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1
Fill a 3-quart saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil.
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2
Add garlic and simmer 5 minutes.
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3
Remove garlic with a slotted spoon and reserve.
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4
Add potatoes to water with bay leaf and salt to taste, then simmer, covered, 10 minutes (potatoes will not be fully cooked).
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5
Cool potatoes in hot water, uncovered, then drain and peel.
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6
Put a 17- by 11-inch roasting pan in middle of oven and preheat oven to 425F.
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7
Melt 1 tablespoon butter and set aside.
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8
Mash together mustard, chives, remaining 5 tablespoons butter, and salt and pepper to taste.
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9
Reserve 1 tablespoon mustard butter for sauce.
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10
Remove excess fat from cavities and necks, then rinse hens and pat dry.
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11
Run your finger between skin and flesh of breast and legs of each hen to loosen skin (outsides of thighs are easier to access from neck end).
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12
Push mustard butter under skin and massage skin from outside to spread butter evenly over breast and legs.
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13
Season hens inside and out with salt and pepper and put half of herb stems in cavity of each bird.
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14
Tie legs together with kitchen string and close cavity with toothpicks.
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15
Brush melted butter over hens.
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16
Remove roasting pan from oven and add oil, tilting to coat.
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17
Put hens in pan, breast sides up, and scatter potatoes and shallots around them.
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18
Roast hens, basting every 10 minutes with a brush and turning vegetables, 30 minutes.
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19
Scatter reserved garlic and thyme leaves around hens and roast, basting frequently and turning vegetables, until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh (without touching bone) registers 170F and vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes more (30 to 40 minutes more for chickens).
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20
Discard string and toothpicks from hens and transfer hens to a platter.
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21
Surround with vegetables and keep warm, loosely covered, while making sauce.
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22
Skim fat from pan juices and add chicken broth, then deglaze by boiling, scraping up brown bits, until reduced to about 1/2 cup.
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23
Pour sauce through a sieve into a sauceboat and stir in reserved tablespoon mustard butter with salt and pepper to taste.
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24
Chop tarragon and parsley leaves and scatter over hens and vegetables.
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25
Serve with sauce.
