Friday, May 22, 2015

Final Recipe for French Fridays with Dorie - Chicken in a Pot: The Garlic and Lemon Version


Today´s final recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is "Chicken in a Pot: The Garlic and Lemon Version". Cooking everything together at once allows the ingredients and flavors to meld and complement each other in a way they do not when prepared separately. This dish is quite simply a one-pot wonder.




To prepare a chicken this way, you will need a large casserole pot with a fitted lid - what a more fitting recipe than the last one to use my beloved bright cherry red Staub Cocotfe again. And although the prep takes a bit of time, the chicken itself needs only about an hour in the oven.

The first step for me was the preparation of a pizza dough for the bread rim using white spelt flour, water, a bit of sugar, mild olive oil, and sea salt. While the dough was resting in a warm place (sunshine on the terrace), I browned the vegetables that Dorie´s recipe calls for, namely the cloves from four entire heads of garlic, French shallots, celery, carrots and teeny tiny fingerling  potatoes – instead of the sweet potatoes – because the kids are crazy about those fingerlings and because they are in season around here and hold their shape well when cooked in a lot of liquid. Then I browned the chicken on all sides. Placed the veg in the casserole, then the chicken around and on top the veg, added lots of lemon thyme and rosemary from the garden, some dry white wine, chicken stock and one cut up organic lemon (instead of the preserved lemon which I could not get my hands on today).




By the time I had finished those steps for the recipe, the dough had risen enough. I formed it into a large rope, draped it around the rim of the cocotte, placed the lid on top and into the oven it went for a good hour. I lightly oiled the rim of the pot before pressing the dough on the rim - I thought I would not be able to break the bread rim off otherwise. But that was probably not necessary.

Then it was time for the reveal – carefully pried the lid open with a screwdriver (following Dorie´s advice) and marvelled at the results.




Pot-roasting/braising chicken this way makes it incredibly moist and all that garlic only subtly flavors the chicken but does not overpower it. The herbs lend a nice flavor as well – especially that fabulous lemon thyme. And the vegetables still had enough bite so that they did not fall apart when served – lots of liquid to be mopped up with parts of that bread rim and some additional baguette.




You can either carve the bird at the table, then remove the legs first, then carve off the breasts. If you are not confident of dividing the chicken at the table, you could quite easily do it in the kitchen before spooning over some of the cooking liquid and serving some of the veg alongside, but the dish then loses a bit of dramatic effect.

We enjoyed this recipe and it was a wonderful and fun method of cooking on this Friday when I had these bittersweet feelings as this particular recipe marks the very last recipe that we cooked from this wonderful (and very my very worn) cookbook.

Cooking along with the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group has been an experience that I would not want to have missed!

Who would have thought that I would be able to follow along for a few years and manage to make a lot of these dishes in my (yes, indeed) very small German kitchen?!

Thanks to all of you kind and thoughtful Doristas for letting me be part of this unique online cooking group that!

There is lots out there that I am looking forward to achieving in the future…and I will „see“ a few of you there…




To see whether the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this week´s recipe, please go here.

For copyright reasons, we did not and do not publish the recipes from the book. But you can find the recipe for the Chicken in a Pot: The Garlic and Lemon Version on pages 206-08 in Dorie Greenspan´s cookbook "Around my French Table".

40 comments:

  1. Wow, Andrea! The photos in your garden look lovely & I think you have the best looking chicken so far. It's been lovely cooking with you all this time & I only hope to meet you in person one day! If you are ever in Southern California, please let us know.
    xoxoxo

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    1. Susan, thank you for the invite but chances are you will be in Europe more often than I will be in Southern California - next time you are visiting France and enjoy German food on the Seine, give me a shout!
      Andrea

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  2. I have "pot" envy! Your Staub is beautiful!!! And I'm so glad we connected via FFwD---and I'm looking forward to seeing what you cook up in your kitchen in the days to come. xoxo

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    1. Liz, in the days to come will probably turn into "years to come" - but who knows, Liz, where our blogging adventures will take us.

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  3. Pot envy indeed. And I must confess a garden envy after all this time too. So fun to have cooked with you. I for one am not ready to give up. I have several more to complete as, well, a commitment is a commitment and I'm going to finish. I have it on good authority the group site is not going anywhere... :)

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    1. Trevor - good, as I would always oogle these pots when other people used them and was always so jealous. Now I was given the red Staub cocotte as a present, ordered the rooster for it and voilà, now other people oogle my pot!
      By the way, who would that "good authority be"...you by any chance...? And would it be presumptuous to ask what the plans are?
      Andrea

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  4. Yes you have the best looking chicken of anyone's this week. Beautiful - looks like the roast chicken I thought it should be! It's been fun to get to know you through this group!

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    1. Mardi, just got lucky and made quite sure to brown the chicken and brown the chicken and brown some more...that´s all. My kitchen was a total mess after this cooking adventure of mine and so was I but who is asking, it was the final recipe after all.
      Thank you for your comment,
      Andrea

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  5. Ooops - and I meant to add - can't wait to connect a little more through Food Revolution Ambassadors!

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    1. Mardi - same here. I had applied a while back and completely given up on this but apparently I am in now. Looking forward to my volunteer work.

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  6. I'm crazy about fingerling potatoes too! And I just love the chicken on top of your pot (the one in it looks delicious too).
    I am so glad that you were part of the Doristas. Every Friday (and during the week in between), you've inspired me with your creative cooking, your attention to local ingredients, your elegant styling, and your gorgeous photography. I am so happy to share this journey with you. And, I look forward to our continue adventure in your Cottage Cooking Club.

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    1. Betsy, fingerlings are very tasty and cute and such a cinch to cook with - just kind of perfect for this lovely Chicken in a Pot.
      And thank you for your wonderful and kind comments - you do know how much I appreciate them, every single one of them and how much I am looking forward to continue our shared cooking adventures in The Cottage Cooking Club!
      Thank you for everything,
      Andrea

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  7. That is one lovely chicken - I think you win the prettiest chicken award this week.
    It has been fun cooking along with you, Andrea. Your beautiful creations are always inspiring.

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    1. Cher, after so many years of cooking along with the FFwD and so many posts and countless comments, I can now even lay claim to the title of "prettiest chicken award"...do not know of anyone else you could say that!

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  8. A beautiful presentation for a beautiful finale with the Dorista's and I found it touching that the cover recipe was saved until last. I got to follow the blogs of other Doristas through the Cottage Cooking Club and it has been a pleasure to be a part of the observe on what you prepared each week, while getting to know some of the bloggers a bit. A striking photo to capture the moment.

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    1. Peggy, you are such a wonderfully kind person - thank you for following the Doristas along. And thank you for this fabulous comment - you are making my (very busy) Saturday evening! I am so glad that we have met through The Cottage Cooking Club and I am looking forward to many a cooking adventure!
      Have a lovely weekend,
      Andrea

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  9. Andrea, it wouldn't have been the same FFWD group without you!! You are the most inspiring photographer, and I just love how you share your love of cooking, your beautiful country and delightful family with us! I can always count on stunning photos to inspire, and interesting uses for all of the herbs we both love to grow (I need to make those fried sage leaves!!).

    I concur - best looking chicken! Happy that you and the family enjoyed this last recipe in the book! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

    And yes, one more shout-out to the Cottage Cooking Club. I realize that Trevor continues to tease about this group, but I would encourage anyone to join in the fun, even as a guest blogger! It could help ease the transition!! :)

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    1. Candy, thank you for your fantastic comment! I appreciate that we share many interests including our love of food and those incredibly wonderful herbs that add so much to many dishes. Those fried sage leaves are wonderful with some wine and cheese or just some cheese - make sure to only pick the young and tender sage leaves, as the older, bigger ones can be a bit tough and a tad overpowering.

      And a big thank you for the shout-out with respect to The Cottage Cooking Club - a guest blogger of our lovely group is free to join for as many or as few months as she/he chooses and cook as many (10) or as few (1) of the recipes that were designated on a monthly basis. So easy to participate and join us for some fun veg recipes! - I must admit that the word "transition" always makes me think of my favorite quote from my favorite romantic comedy: "She's supposed to be his transitional person, she's not supposed to be the ONE"....

      Thank you for everything, dear friend,
      Andrea

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  10. Simply damn delicious!!!
    never had this method before, definitely worth to try....
    Dedy@Dentist Chef

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    1. Dedy, thank you for stopping by - nice to "hear" from you again! This was the first time I cooked using this method as well - it is definitely fun and worth a try, at least once!

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  11. I LOVE coffee and, though my train to Amsterdam always stops in Cologne, I have only managed to get out of the train station once. I may just have to consider stopping by for a coffee:-) Seriously.

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    1. Rose, and you should! I would most certainly be delighted but you know that!

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  12. This is beautiful, as everyone has noted! Sadly, it would put me in the hospital! :) But I can easily imagine a lot of shallots instead of the garlic. Your Staub pot is pretty stunning... Perhaps that will be my souvenir from our trip! Bis bald, meine sußes Freundchen!

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    1. David - so , we shall leave the garlic (40 cloves!) out of this dish for you, we would not want to see you hospitalized after consuming dinner with us.
      The idea of bringing a lovely Staub cocotte with you back to the States in summer is a fabulous idea although the weight of that baby might prove to constitute an insurmountable obstacle - it weighs a hefty 6 kilos (about 13 pounds) - perhaps if you left ALL your luggage at home?!
      Liebe Grüße,
      Andrea

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  13. Liebe Andrea, auch als 'nicht member of FFwD' habe ich mit grossem Vergnügen den blog in dieser Hinsicht verfolgt. Der Abschluss klingt irgendwie traurig... auch wenn das Huehnchen in dem unglaublich schoenen Topf so perfekt ausschaut. Mach bitte weiter so, sonst wuerde mir viel Inspiration fürs Kochen fehlen. Danke und einen ganz lieben Gruss aus Frederick!

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    1. Liebe Wally, deine Kommentare sind immer so nett und ich freue mich immer wieder von dir zu hören. Obwohl FFwD eigentlich vorbei ist (nach 4 1/2 Jahren), mache ich lustig weiter und freue mich unwahrscheinlich über den lieben Zuspruch! Wir haben noch vier zusätzliche Posts für die Gruppe, also noch einen Monat - aber das Buch haben wir durch.
      Lieben Dank für deine herzlichen Worte und wir "sehen" uns bald - der nächste Post ist fast fertig!
      Ganz liebe Grüße aus dem sonnigen Bonn,
      Andrea

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  14. As always, a beautiful post with beautiful photos, Andrea! I also have to say, being in a drought, seeing that greenery so softly out of focus in the background is just breathtaking (I'm jealous!). I, too, love your staub cocotte! I'm glad to have followed along with you over the past few months when I returned to the group and I've loved seeing all your gorgeous photos. Looking forward to what the next few weeks will bring!

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    1. Katie, what wonderful friendships have grown while we were part of this lovely online cooking group. I so enjoy having got to know you through FFwD - always a joy to visit your blog and/or look at your pictures on fb. We did read in the news about the drought - it does look rather serious, I must say.Hopefully there will be a turn for the better very soon.
      I am sure that we will stay in touch beyond the four weeks...
      Andrea

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  15. This has been such a fun journey, I especially enjoyed reading your blog each week and getting to know you a little better. I am looking forward to the posts for the next few weeks. I have always enjoyed your stories and your gorgeous photos, and I know we will stay connected.

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    1. Rosemary, it has been a fun journey indeed and I enjoyed each and every visit to your and Tricia´s lovely blog. I sincerely hope that we will stay connected -
      Andrea

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  16. Andrea, I love your pot with the chicken on the lid - how appropriate for this dish. It has been an amazing ride and I too hope to see you around in the future.

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    1. Gaye,I did keep this pot for this particular post - this Staub rooster handle must be my very favorite handle. It has been an amazing ride indeed and you shall see me around in the future - no doubt about that!
      Andrea

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  17. As always, your photography is inspiring. I have truly looked forward to your photos for each post and you have never disappointed. As I have shared before, they have brought me much joy - not to mention the wonderful backstories you have provided about history, ingredients and other topics that of course interest the Doristas. Your blog is fabulous and it is clearly a reflection on the fact that YOU are fabulous. Thank you for sharing all that you have during this adventure and I look forward to keeping in touch (and watching your sweet daughters grow up :) in the future. All the best ~

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    1. Tricia, you are making me blush here - thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind words of support!
      I am looking forward to following the two of you ladies along way past FFwD! I shall be there waiting for your posts, trust me!
      Andrea

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  18. Gorgeous! This dish really was a one-pot wonder. We loved it at my house too.

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  19. I love your pot. Good to know that fingerling potatoes worked well, I love those. I have enjoyed your blog and beautiful pictures. Hope to see this "very small German kitchen" again. Have a great week.

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    1. Diane, fingerling are easy, delicious and readily available - love to use them in my cooking and the kids are crazy about them. I am quite certain that we shall visit each other´s blogs even after FFwD has wrapped up!

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  20. Your beautiful photos and thorough posts have been one of the gifts of this group, Andrea. I'm getting back on the Cottage Cooking Club bandwagon in June, so am looking forward to many more cooking adventures with you!

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    1. Teresa, thank you, I appreciate your kind comment - looking forward to having you cook along with us in The Cottage Cooking Club again in June!
      Andrea

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