5 lb Chicken
4 Strips bacon
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Clove garlic, finely chopped
1 c Chicken broth
1/2 ts Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tb. cornstarch dissolved in
2 Tb. cold water
2 Tb. finely chopped parsley
-or chives
Last weekend I finally managed to find good romertopf. A big one:
big enough for a small turkey! And am I glad. This is a neat way to
cook. I fixed the following recipe and it came out great. I fudged
it a bit--added a couple of quartered taters, three cut up carrots
and a couple of cut up celery stalks. Everything came out cooked to
perfection.
After getting it, I went to the bookshelf and rummaged around for
possible recipes and came across a book I'd forgotten I even had.
These recipes are from it. This recipe is the only one I've actually
fixed, but if the rest are as good, I'll be impressed. I had
expected the chicken to have a soft, steamed skin, but the parts that
were above the liquid were nicely browned.
Here are some chicken ones, one for osso bucco and one for a New
England boiled dinner that looks outrageous.
In the book, Chalmers says that nearly any recipe can be adapted to
the clay pot cookers by adding a hundred degrees to the listed
temperature and adding half an hour to the cooking time.
Soak the clay pot in cold water for 10 minutes. Truss the chicken
securely and sit it in the pot, breast side up. Cut the bacon into
small pieces and fry until crisp. Drain the bacon and scatter it
over the chicken breast. Add the onion, garlic, chicken broth, salt
and pepper.
Cover the pot and place it in a cold oven. Adjust the heat to 450F
and cook for 1 1/2 hours.
Drain the juices into a small saucepan. Bring to boiling point and
stir in the cornstarch dissolved in cold water. Add the chives or
parsley to the sauce and pour it over the chicken. The chicken will
be so utterly tender you will not have any difficulty carving it
right out of the pot. Serve with rice or noodles and a tomato salad.
From "Cooking in Clay" by Irena Chalmers, Potpourri Press, Greensboro
N.C., 1974.
