Classic French poulet en cocotte relies on the moist environment of a covered Dutch oven to yield unbelievably tender meat (albeit with soft skin) and a concentrated jus made of the chicken’s own juices. To make this dish into a complete meal, we added root vegetables to the pot but found that they were underdone even after an hour of baking. Adding liquid (a combination of chicken broth and wine) tenderized the vegetables, but the jus lost its appealing intensity. To counter this, we browned the chicken and vegetables to build fond. Browning our bird also crisped the skin slightly, and we wondered if we could preserve and enhance its crispness by cooking the chicken uncovered. To our satisfaction, we found that the uncovered roasting intensified the sauce without excessive evaporation, and the vegetables emerged tender and bathed in flavor. Our chicken in a pot now had the best of all worlds: succulent meat, crisped skin, superflavorful vegetables, and a killer sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 (3½- to 4-pound) whole chicken, giblets discarded
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1½ pounds red potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 shallots, peeled and halved
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup chicken broth, plus extra as needed
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels, tuck wingtips behind back, and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place chicken, breast side down, in pot and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Carefully flip chicken breast side up and continue to cook until well browned on second side, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to large plate.
- Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot. Add potatoes, carrots, shallots, and ½ teaspoon salt and cook over medium heat until vegetables are just beginning to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine, broth, and bay leaf, scraping up any browned bits.
- Place chicken, breast side up, on top of vegetables, adding any accumulated juices. Transfer pot to oven and roast, uncovered, until breast registers 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees, 55 to 65 minutes, rotating pot halfway through roasting.
- Remove pot from oven. Transfer chicken to carving board and let rest for 15 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to serving platter and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.
- Discard bay leaf. Pour liquid left in pot into fat separator and let settle for 5 minutes. (You should have ¾ cup defatted liquid; add extra broth as needed to equal ¾ cup.) Return defatted liquid to now-empty pot, bring to simmer over medium-high heat, and cook until it measures ½ cup, 5 to 7 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle vegetables with parsley, carve chicken, and serve with sauce.