Savory Chicken and Vegetables in Clay Pot

With many modern cookery equipment, people forget that the crockery clay pot is a wonderful choice when it comes to a so-called “one pot meal". Baking with it is the same concept as preparing food in slow cookers, but it is a more traditional cooking method. Food prepared this way yields healthy, yet hearty meals and is very attractive when served on the table. Since I have a clay pot, I have toyed with many recipes. The one I am preparing today is quite simple, but flavorful. Don't be fooled with the long list of ingredients because these ingredients are in our fridge. I chose the vegetables which cook in high heat but still hold their shape. I also found that I do not need a lot of fat when using a clay pot. The natural juices from the meat and vegetables are retained in the clay pot rather than boiled away. For that we can have juicy, nutritious dishes.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into big chunks
Spices:
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
Bouquet garni: rosemary, sage, parsley, and marjoram, tied together in a small bunch
3 garlic cloves, smashed
Broth:
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
Vegetables:
1 small onion, chopped
1 tomato, peeled and chopped
2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
1 carrots, thickly sliced
5 white button mushrooms, quartered
1 celery stalk, sliced
Thickening sauce:
1/2 cup sour cream or nonfat yogurt
2 tsp cornstarch

Directions:
Soak the clay pot in water for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400°.
Cut an X on top of the tomato and drop into boiling hot water. Cook for 2 minutes (this method is to remove the skin from the tomato).

After soaking the pot, pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil on the bottom of the pot.

Place chicken chunks and then scatter the vegetables around the pot and on top of the chicken. Mix in the broth, salt, black peper, paprika, garlic, and bouquet garni.

 Cover clay pot with lid and bake in oven for 1 ½ hours.

After one hour, check for the tenderness of the chicken and vegetables. Dependent on the variety of oven used, more time might be needed to bake.

Discard the bouquet garni. Remove chicken, potatoes, mushrooms and carots and keep warm. Pour the sauce and the left of some cook vegetables into a saucepan. Use the hand held to blend the cook vegetables and bring to simmer. Whisk the nonfat yogurt and cornstarch. Re season with more salt, needed.

Equally divide the meat and vegetables among the serving plate and pour sauce over them. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.