Classic Clay Cooker Roast Chicken Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
• Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

Steps:

• Prepare a clay roaster by soaking in cold water for 15 minutes.
• Wash the chicken well inside and out under cool running water. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken all over with 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and season evenly on all sides with the salt and pepper. Place the reserved lemon shell inside the chicken cavity. Place the chicken inside the prepared clay roaster and brush with the melted butter. Cover the roaster and transfer to a cold oven. Set the oven temperature to 400 degrees F and cook for 45 minutes.
• Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of lemon juice, honey, and soy sauce in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until heated through. In a small bowl, make a paste from the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and the flour. Whisk the butter-flour mixture into the melted honey-lemon-butter mixture. Continue to cook until the sauce has thickened slightly. Remove the clay cooker from the oven and pour the honey-butter mixture all over the chicken, making sure to evenly cover the breast and any exposed areas. Cover the roaster and return the chicken to the oven for 45 minutes, or until it is cooked through and very tender. Transfer the chicken to a platter or carving board, cut into pieces and serve immediately. Transfer the sauce to a gravy boat for serving, or spoon some of the sauce over each piece of chicken.

Steps:

• 1. Soak the clay cooker in water for 10 minutes.
• 2. Meanwhile, Pick the herbs, rinse, and chop. Peel the garlic and leave the cloves whole. Remove the chickens from their wrappers, remove the "innards" and rinse.
• 3. Place the chickens in the cooker. Put the garlic cloves in their cavities, and cover with the minced herbs. Pour the olive oil over the chickens.
• 4. Place the covered clay cooker in a cold oven, and turn the temperature to 425 degrees. Roast for 2.5 hours. You will smell it when it is close to done, but check to see the leg joint is not pink.
• 5. Serve with Rice and a Green.
• 6. You can add fruit (peaches or oranges) or an acid (juice or a vinegar) to change the flavor. Once dinner is done, remove the remaining meat, and put the bones in a stock pot with the liquid left over from cooking. Simmer over night. The next day, drain the stock.
• 7. In a bowl place left over rice, left over chicken, and any other vegetables you have. Ladle broth over it. I usually run out and pick some spicy greens, rinse them and slice them, then put them in the bowl. In about a minute you will have a fantastic soup.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Have a shelf ready in the middle of the oven without any shelves above it.
• Scatter 1 roughly chopped onion and 2 roughly chopped carrots over the base of a roasting tin that fits the whole 1 ½ kg chicken, but doesn't swamp it.
• Season the cavity of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, then stuff with 2 lemon halves and a small bunch of thyme, if using.
• Sit the chicken on the vegetables, smother the breast and legs all over with 25g softened butter, then season the outside with salt and pepper.
• Place in the oven and leave, undisturbed, for 1 hr 20 mins - this will give you a perfectly roasted chicken. To check, pierce the thigh with a skewer and the juices should run clear.
• Carefully remove the tin from the oven and, using a pair of tongs, lift the chicken to a dish or board to rest for 15-20 mins. As you lift the dish, let any juices from the chicken pour out of the cavity into the roasting tin.
• While the chicken is resting, make the gravy. Place the roasting tin over a low flame, then stir in 1 tbsp flour and sizzle until you have a light brown, sandy paste.
• Gradually pour in 250ml chicken stock, stirring all the time, until you have a thickened sauce.
• Simmer for 2 mins, using a wooden spoon to stir, scraping any sticky bits from the tin.
• Strain the gravy into a small saucepan, then simmer and season to taste. When you carve the bird, add any extra juices to the gravy.

Steps:

• Soak the clay pot according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• Spatchcock the chicken, making sure to remove the keel bone and breast cartilage, but not cutting the bird into halves. Rinse.
• Season the chicken inside and out to taste with the salt and pepper.
• Combine the softened butter and the minced garlic. The amount of garlic should be adjusted based upon your preference.
• Using your fingers, spread the garlic butter between the meat and the skin of the breast and leg meat.
• Wrap the chicken around the quartered onions and fresh rosemary and place in the prepared clay pot.
• Pour the white wine and the orange juice over the prepared bird, allowing the excess liquid to pool at the bottom of the pot.
• Place covered clay pot in COLD oven and turn the heat on to 450 degrees. Bake until the chicken is cooked (use an oven thermometer) through, checking often after the one hour mark. The time will vary based upon the size of the bird(s). (In our oven, baking time is typically between 75 and 90 minutes.).
• As the bird gets close to being done, take the cover off the pot and allow it to brown.
• Allow the chicken or hens to cool for 10 minutes in the pot with the juices after removing from the oven. Collect the juices and skim off as much fat as possible.
• Cut up and serve the bird with some of the lovely skimmed juice on the side. Thicken it if you want, but we like it just as is.

Steps:

• Soak clay oven in water to cover for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Place lemon in chicken cavity. Tuck wings under, and tie legs together with string, if desired. Place chicken in clay pot, breast side up, and sprinkle with tarragon. Cover with lid.
• Place in a COLD oven. Turn oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake 1 hour. Uncover and bake 15 more minutes or until meat thermometer inserted into chicken thigh registers 180 degrees.