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What To Eat for a Jewish Christmas?
With no pressure from family or religion, I can do anything I want for Christmas. But most restaurants are closed, and Jewish friends are in need of a decent meal, so I’ve taken to cooking, which makes my table a popular place. Last Sunday, I test-ran this recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s acclaimed new cookbook, and the results were spectacular. Her Chicken in the Pot is easy, luscious, looks festive on the plate, and can be fully prepared ahead of time. Rave reviews guaranteed.
CHICKEN-IN-THE-POT from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan
Makes 4 servings (but you can multiply the recipe easily)
Approximately 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 heads of garlic, broken into cloves, but not peeled
16 shallots or, peeled and trimmed, or 4 onions, peeled, trimmed and quartered, or 4 leeks, white part only, halved lengthwise
8 carrots, peeled, trimmed and quartered
4 celery stalks, trimmed and quartered
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
Grated zest of 1 lemon
16 prunes, optional (apricots or dried apples are also good in this dish)
1 chicken, whole or cut-up
1/2 small (2 lbs or less) cabbage cut into 4 wedges (try Savoy cabbage)
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine, or another 1/2 cup chicken broth
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup hot water
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
1. Set a large skillet over high heat and add about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Toss in the garlic cloves and all the vegetables, EXCEPT the cabbage – you might have to do this in two batches, you don’t want to crowd the skillet – season generously with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are lightly browned on all sides. Spoon the vegetables into a large Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid – you’ll need a pot that holds at least 5 quarts. Stir in the herbs, lemon zest and prunes, if you’re using them.
2. Return the skillet to the heat and add another tablespoon or so of oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown the chicken on all sides. Put the chicken in the casserole, nestling it among the vegetables. Fit the cabbage wedges around the chicken.
4. Stir together the chicken broth, wine and 1/2 cup olive oil and pour the mixture over the chicken and vegetables. Now you have a choice: you can cover the pot with a sheet of aluminum foil and the lid, or you can make a paste to seal the lid. To make the paste, stir the flour and water together, mixing until you have a soft, workable dough. Working on a floured surface, shape the dough into a long sausage, then press the sausage onto the rim of the casserole. Press the lid into the dough to seal the pot. Slide the pot into the oven and bake for 70 minutes. If you need to keep it in the oven a little longer because you’re not ready for it, don’t worry – turn the heat down to 325 degrees F and you’ll be good for another 30 minutes or so. The easiest way to break the seal, is to wiggle the point of a screwdriver between the dough and the pot – being careful not to stand in the line of the escaping (and wildly aromatic) steam. If the chicken was whole, quarter it and return it to the pot, so that you can serve directly from the pot, or arrange the chicken and vegetables on a serving platter.
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So then, do you throw out the dough? Is sealing Dutch ovens with a dough “sausage” a common technique?
I didn’t make the dough. I just covered it securely with aluminum foil and a tight-fitting lid.