pot-roasted chicken

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Sounds too prosaic, but that's often the way with recipes from Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking book. They come from some other, simpler time. It's the reason I love this book: the old-fashioned simplicity of it, the way the recipes seem to bring the best out of good basic ingredients. My only disappointment with this dish was that I didn't quite get her results, and I really can't imagine how it would be possible. Though it did taste great.

I started with a good organic chicken, and stuffed it with a mix of home-ground breadcrumbs (from good soudough), parsley, chopped and pitted black olives, garlic, half an onion, white pepper, nutmeg, eggs. The chicken cooks on its side (swapping sides a couple of times during the cooking). David talks about being careful when turning it so you don't break the skin and how you end up with a crisp brown skin. Well, that didn't happen, and I doubt it's possible. Most of the skin on the legs did tear away, and the breast was pale, not brown and crisp. On the other hand it was tender and delicious, and the stuffing tasted great.

At the end, while the chicken was "resting', we took some par-boiled whole small potatoes and cooked them for a few minutes in the mix of oil and chicken juices in the pot, long enough for the potatoes to brown and finish cooking. Delicious!