A New Old Way to Cook Chicken

What good is having a clay baker if you’re not going to cook anything in it? So, I scoured the interweb looking for something that might make good use of my newest kitchen toy.

On about.com, I found a recipe for chicken tarragon that sounded promising. When I made the recipe, I did 1½ times the amount of the recipe because I needed six servings (Brand new to clay cooking and I’m doing it for a dinner party. I know! I’m a crazy risk taker!).

I give you the original recipe here. If you don’t feel like breaking down a whole chicken (or only like white meat), just use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (four to six of them should do the trick).

Chicken Tarragon for the Clay Cooker

• 1 frying chicken, cut in half or quarters
• ½ C chicken broth
• Juice of 1 fresh lemon (about 2 T)
• 1 T tarragon vinegar
• 1 t dried tarragon leaves
• 1½ t kosher salt
• ½ t black pepper
• 1 t Hungarian sweet paprika (thanks to my sister-in-law, I happened to have some directly from Hungary)
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ C heavy cream
• 1 T all-purpose flour

Pre-soak both top and bottom of a large clay cooker in water for at least 15 minutes. Drain. Line with parchment paper for easier clean-up. (I didn’t line with parchment because I thought the whole point was to have the darn thing get seasoned over time. Yes, there was scraping, but nothing too difficult.)

Arrange chicken, skin-side up, in the bottom of the clay cooker (I definitely had to layer them as I had a few extra breasts in the pot. But, one chicken should fit pretty nicely in a standard sized baker). Pour chicken broth down the side into the bottom. Whisk together the lemon juice and tarragon vinegar. Drizzle evenly over the chicken.

In a small bowl, stir together tarragon leaves, salt, pepper, and paprika. Sprinkle mixture over chicken pieces. Top with shallots and garlic.

Cover the clay cooker with the lid and place into a cold oven. Turn on oven to 450°. Bake about 1¼ hours, until chicken is lightly golden.

Remove chicken and cover to keep warm. Whisk flour into heavy cream. Pour juices from the bottom of the clay cooker into a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in heavy cream. Bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened, stirring often. Serve gravy over chicken. (So, I did the gravy a more traditionally. I heated 1 T butter and then added the flour so as to make a roux. Then, I mixed in the cream and pan juices. I just felt this would result in a better gravy.)

Results

I was skeptical—especially about the whole cold oven business. I thought for sure the skin would be mushy or that the chicken would have a boiled meat taste. Neither one happened. It was, in fact, remarkably good. Moist (I know, I know, but it wasn’t really juicy… just moist.) on the inside and skin that was tasty. It’s not crispy skin that you’d get from baking in a traditional casserole, but it’s quite nice. The paprika gave it a bit of color as well.

I am a happy convert to the clay baking way.

 

Old, Really Old, School Baking

What Is It?

A clay baker—for baking meats and veggies and fishies and other good things in the oven. Apparently, you can even do bread in them. The idea is to return to how things were cooked way back when. You know, before the Bronze Age and the smelting of metal.

How Does It Work?

It’s made out of clay (hence the name), so it retains moisture like a champ. You soak it for at least 15 minutes before each use. Once you have your dinner items inside, you put it in a cold oven and set the temperature. Depending on the recipe, in an hour or so, your goose (or whatever) is cooked. Now, obviously, the oven part is a bit post-Bronze, if you will. But, I think the clay baker gives you the illusion of cooking like a newly non-nomadic tribesperson without all the hassle of hunting down your food, building a fire, AND then soaking your pottery in the nearest creek.

I’m not going to pretend to understand the science behind the combo of steam and dry heat (see the heat from the oven eventually dries the clay). And, I was skeptical, to be sure. But my first recipe in the clay baker came out really well—not over or under cooked, moist chicken with crispy skin. Now, the magic of clay is no longer confined to Gumby and Pokey.

The only creepy thing about clay bakers is that you’re not supposed to use soap to clean them. (Well, some web sites say it’s OK and others say it’s not.) The reasoning is that the clay holds onto flavors, and then could give your dinner a soapy taste. This is the same reason they recommend having a separate fish clay baker. The oils from cooking will eventually season and seal the clay. But, it’s a bit creepy to me to just flush something with hot water and scrub with a plastic brush.

Do I Really Need It?

No, but now that I have one, I’m kind of in love. I think this may be how people feel when they get crock pots. Look, it does all of this amazing stuff! And, then you make three recipes and they all taste the same. (At least, that’s how it was for me.) So, you lose a bit of interest. I’ll let you know after a few more recipes whether it holds up to wear and tear.

Also, if you’re weak-limbed, you should probably stay away. These suckers are heavy little beasts.

Where Can I Buy My Very Own?

Mine is made by Römertopf (it’s German, it must be good!) and was a gift so I’m not sure how much they typically cost. If you want to give clay roasting and baking a whirl, but don’t want to shell out the cash, start with a small potato or garlic roaster. (I bought one for my parents a while ago and they swear by it for perfect potatoes.)