Chicken in a Pot

This recipe appeared in the Washington Post Food Section, Wednesday, March 18, 2009, Chef David Hagedorn. This is chicken at its very best. I love this fowl. I made a couple of changes, noted below.

4 - 5 lb chicken, reserve the gizzard packet
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
dried rosemary
6 medium cloves garlic, crushed
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, small dice
1 medium carrot, small dice
2 ribs celery, small dice
4 sprigs thyme
1 stem rosemary
1 bay leaf
homemade chicken broth
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 t cornstarch
1 T cold water
Chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 275ºF. (The original recipe states 250ºF, but after my first experience with this recipe, that just seemed a little too low. 275º works quite well.)

Rinse the chicken in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Grind together 1 t kosher salt, 1/2 t peppercorns, 1/2 dried rosemary, and 2 crushed garlic cloves. Carefully insert some of the rub underneath the skin on the breast, being careful not to completely separate the skin from the breast. Season the rest of the chicken with the remaining rub. (This is my own rub, Chef Hagedorn is probably blanching at the thought of using something like this....) Tuck the chicken wing tips under the chicken.

Heat the oil in a dutch oven or a (covered) roast pan over medium-high heat until the oil begins to shimmer. Add the chicken, breast side down, and sear undisturbed for five minutes.

Using tongs, carefully turn the chicken over. Arrange the vegetables around the chicken. Cook for about five minutes, then add the herbs, remaining garlic, and chicken neck and gizzard, if desired.

Press a large piece of aluminum foil directly over the chicken. Cover the pot and bake for about 1-1/2 - 3 hours (or at least until the internal temperature of the thigh registers 155º).

Turn off the oven. Remove the chicken from the oven. Loosen the foil and remove the lid. Let the chicken rest for 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Carve the chicken into ten pieces (see carving note, below). Put the pieces on a serving platter, and cover with the foil. Place the platter back in the turned-off oven.

Strain the pan juices into a measuring cup. Press the vegetables against the strainer to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the vegetables. Skim the fat from the liquid and discard. Add enough homemade broth, if needed, to the juices to make one cup liquid. Pour into a small saucepan. Add the lemon juice, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Mix the cornstarch with the cold water, and whisk into the boiling liquid. Stir until the sauce slightly thickens and is smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over the chicken, or serve at the table separately.

Carving Note: Hagedorn has a five-step method for carving the chicken. It's very easy:

1. Use a carving knife to cut through the skin between the thigh and the breast
2. Pop the thigh joint where it joins the bird, and cut through the skin to remove the leg and thigh
3. Cut through the joint separating the thigh and leg.
4. Separate the wings from the bird at the joint, and cut through the joint, leaving an ample amount of breast meat on the first joint. Cut off and discard the wingtips.
5. Remove each breast half from the carcass. (Begin slicing through the breast at the breastbone. You can then separate each breast half from the carcass.) Slice each piece in half.