Chicken in a Clay Pot with Vegetables and New Potatoes

Vegetables and spices

1. If you cook chicken in a pot in summer, I recommend using young vegetables. They braise much faster, and the flavor of the dish is milder and more delicate. Small potatoes can be cooked whole. If you can, buy a free-range chicken or young chicken weighing a little over 0.5 kg – that is enough for two servings.

   

   The pot should be big enough to hold all the chopped vegetables and the pieces of chicken. At home I use a pot with a lid of about 1.5 l – I bought it in the Balkans a long time ago.

   As additional vegetables, especially if you are cooking a larger chicken in a big ceramic pot, I suggest zucchini, cauliflower, and broccoli. Young beans and peas braise nicely too. Another option is to add ripe tomatoes to the pot and, at the end of cooking, pour an egg over the vegetables and bake it briefly.

2. Peel and cut the vegetables. Peel the onion, carrot, potatoes, and bell pepper. Separate the head of garlic into cloves, but do not peel them. Cut the onion into thick strips, the carrot into cubes, and the pepper into rings.

   

3. Mix the vegetables with the spices. Put all the cut vegetables into a deep bowl, add the garlic cloves, and stir. Add salt to taste – a little extra is fine, since the potatoes and chicken are not salted separately. Season the vegetables with freshly ground pepper, add 2–3 bay leaves and 1 tsp of dried aromatic herbs: savory, thyme, oregano – good herb blends are sold in shops. If you like, add more savory (not to be confused with thyme) to the vegetables – it is the main aromatic spice of the Balkans, and very tasty. Mix the vegetables with the spices.

   

Filling the pot

1. Cut the chicken into pieces. If you are using a small chicken, cut the carcass into four parts. Larger birds should be cut into more pieces. It is important that the pieces weigh about 150 g and fit in the ceramic pot. You can also braise store-bought thighs or drumsticks instead of a whole chicken.

2. Layer half of the vegetables, the chicken, and the potatoes in the pot. Put half of the prepared vegetables with spices into the pot and press them down lightly. Next, add the chicken pieces and all the peeled potatoes. If the potatoes are large, cut them into pieces. Pour in 1 tbsp of vegetable oil – olive oil or odorless sunflower oil.

   

3. Cover the chicken with the remaining vegetables and pour in the liquid. Spread the rest of the vegetables with spices on top. Try to fill the gaps between the potatoes and chicken pieces with vegetables. Pack everything tightly and cover the meat completely. Pour in a third of a cup of water (200 ml) or broth. On special occasions you can use dry white wine instead of water – the chicken in the pot turns out incredible.

   

Braising in the oven

1. Cover the filled pot with the lid, put it in a cold oven, turn the heat on to 180 °C, and braise for at least an hour from the start of the boil. I advise setting the pot on a rimmed tray or a large baking dish – liquid may splash out as it boils. It takes some time, about 30 minutes, for the contents to heat up to a boil. If the ceramic lid has a hole, you will see a thin stream of steam when it starts to boil. All the ingredients cook quickly, but the hour is what makes the chicken tender while the vegetables keep their shape.

   

   There is little liquid in the pot – a third of a cup plus all the moisture in the vegetables and meat. That is enough to leave liquid in the finished dish, which blends with the juices of the chicken and vegetables into a pleasant sauce with a mild, piquant flavor. Note that no spices are added to the pot other than those mixed in with the vegetables. It is worth watching the steam coming out of the lid – if it stops, there may be no moisture left in the pot.

Serving

1. Take out the pot and bring it to the table. Carefully take the pot out of the oven and set it on a plate lined with a paper napkin. Pot dishes are usually served at the table on that same plate and spooned onto plates right at dinner. Ceramics also keep heat in much better than metal, so the dish stays hot for a long time. For dinner, get plates and cutlery ready, and put an oven mitt and a spoon next to the pot.

   

2. Spoon onto plates. Chicken braised with vegetables in a pot already contains plenty of vegetables, so no separate side dish is needed. You can add a little fresh herbs and, as I like to do, put large slices of very ripe tomatoes on the plates – this is optional.