Chicken In The Pot

Did you ever make a dish that tasted so good you couldn't believe you made it?

Chicken in the Pot was that kind of meal for me today.

First I cut up and browned the veg...

Here's the infamous preserved lemon that gets added to the veg...

I put the browned chicken pieces on top of the veg...

...and poured the wine and broth over that...

Then I put the dough on top.

I put the top on and threw it in the oven.

I didn't really get the dough on the edge of the pot very well. Next time I guess. I was in a hurry because my husband had two meetings and I wanted to get the pot in the oven so it would be out in time for him to eat before he had to leave.

It came out so well, I was astounded. Lol.

As promised, here is the recipe.

This is a Dorrie Greenspan recipe that I cut out of the Buffalo News, Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010.

Chicken in the Pot: The Garlic and Lemon Version

1/2 preserved lemon (see note)

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and each cut into 8 same-sized pieces (white potatoes may be substituted)

16 small white or yellow onions or shallots

8 carrots, trimmed, peeled, and quartered

4 celery stalks, trimmed, peeled, and quartered

4 garlic heads, cloves separated but not peeled

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

3 thyme sprigs

3 parsley sprigs

2 rosemary sprigs

1 chicken, about 4 pounds, whole or cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup hot water

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Using a paring knife, slice the peel from the preserved lemon and cut it into small squares; discard the pulp. Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, drop in the peel, and cook for 1 minute; drain and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the vegetables and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and saute until the vegetables are brown on all sides (if necessary, do this in two batches.) Spoon the vegetables into a 4 1/2- to 5- quart Dutch oven or other pot with a lid and stir in the herbs and the preserved lemon.

Return the skillet to the heat, add another tablespoon of oil, and brown the chicken on all sides, seasoning it with salt and pepper as it cooks. Tuck the chicken into the casserole, surrounding it with the vegetables. Mix together the broth, wine, and the remaining olive oil and pour over the chicken and vegetables.

Put 1 1/2 cups of flour in a medium bowl and add enough hot water to make a malleable dough. Dust a work surface with a little flour, turn out the dough, and working with your hands, roll the dough into a sausage. Place the dough on the rim of the pot - if it breaks, just piece it together - and press the lid onto the dough to seal the pot.

Slide the pot into the oven and bake for 55 minutes.

Now you have a choice - you can break the seal in the kitchen or do it at the table, where it's bound to make a mess, but where everyone will have the pleasure of sharing that first fragrant whiff as you lift the lid with a fourish. Whether at the table or in the kitchen, the best tool to break the seal is the least attractive - a screwdriver. Use the point of the screwdriver as a lever to separate the lid from the dough.

Depending on whether your chicken was whole or cut up, you might have to do some in-the-kitchen carving, but in the end, you want to make sure the vegetables and the delicious broth are on the table with the chicken. Makes 5 servings.

Note: Prepare preserved lemons by cutting deep slits in lemons and  burying them in salt and their own juices for at least three weeks.

If you can make this, you should. It took quite a bit of prep work and if I didn't have other things going on at the same time, as usual, and a time constraint, as usual, it would have been more fun. It still was fun, though, because I was already excited about using the preserved lemons that I made.

To read my post about preserved lemons, click here.

I'm working for the next 3 days so unless there is some miracle of an extra hour or two in the day, you will not see me until Thursday night or Friday. 

Have a great week!!!