Clay-Baked Chicken Recipe

Photo: Clay-Baked Chicken Recipe

The Chicken Recipes Kitchen (The home of delicious chicken recipes) invites you to try Clay-Baked Chicken recipe. Enjoy our collection of quick & easy recipes and learn how to make Clay-Baked Chicken.

Cardinal Rules For Baking In Clay Pots

1. Use unglazed pots.
2. Soak pots in water for 1 hour before baking.
3. Never preheat oven. Always place food in a cold oven, then set temperature.
4. When removing pots from the oven, set down on a dishtowel, or other soft surface.

Never set on a cold surface.

Yield: 4 

Ingredients

1 stick butter, room temperature
1 unit lemon, zested, reserve remaining lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 head garlic
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves chopped finely, reserve remaining stems
1 tablespoon salt
One 3 1/2-pound chicken, ideally kosher
10 cumquats (optional), 4 of which should be sliced thinly
2 cinnamon sticks
4 pounds non-toxic medium-dark brown clay

Directions
In a medium size bowl, mix butter, lemon zest, cinnamon, cloves, 3 cloves of garlic (minced), and chopped parsley

Rub down chicken generously with salt. Use your fingers to separate the skin from the breast meat and slide some of the compound butter underneath the skin of the chicken. Rub remaining butter all over its exterior. Place cumquat slices between skin and breast meat.

Cut remaining head of garlic in half horizontally, slice zested lemon in quarters, smash the remaining cumquats with any blunt heavy instrument then stuff cavity of bird with the aforementioned ingredients and cinnamon sticks.

Set out two 18-inch sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Make them into one big sheet by folding the ends over each other and sealing tightly.

Wrap chicken with foil and seal the foil by tightly folding the seams over a couple of times.

Roll out clay so that it is 1/4-inch thick and approximately 2 feet square. Set bird in the center of clay and wrap clay around bird. Use a bit of water to help seal the clay joints. Use extra clay to sculpt your bird into a chicken, a pig, or whatever else floats your boat. Any air pockets will cause added pieces to break off during baking, so use a fork to join joints, then seal with a bit of water.

Place bird in oven and set temperature to 350°F. Bake for 75 minutes, then raise temperature to 450°F and bake for another 30 minutes.

After bird is fully cooked, let rest for 15 minutes. To serve, bring clay-encased bird to table and smash clay shell in front of guests with a hammer (or any other blunt instrument you would use to ward off burglars). Allow everyone to marvel at the aromas, then take back to the kitchen and carve up. For presentation purposes, leave the aromatic stuffing in the center of the serving plate.

Courtesy of Bob Blumer
The Surreal Gourmet

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