Clay Cooking - Romertopf

I know that Christmas was three months ago. I received a Romertopf by Recco from First Daughter. I had wanted to try a clay cooker for some time and the Scot in me just wouldn't buy one. Thank goodness FD has diluted Scot and went for it!

From the day after Christmas to the end of January, Papa was ill and the clay cooker was the least of my concerns. I don't know what happened to February, except it brought First Granddaughter back to Texas, along with Second GreatGrand. (Oh, yes, her blessed husband, too.) March was full of this and that and Beloved Husband's Second Brother and wife came to visit (and I wish they could have stayed for months!)

Finally, I bought a hen this week and threw her in the oven in the clay cooker. Scrumptious!!!

Well, it wasn't quite that simple. I plucked some fresh rosemary, added half an apple in sections along with a bit of salt and pepper to the empty cavity. BH had purchased garlic butter for use a couple of weeks ago and I used the leftovers in the creases of the legs and wings, along with margerine wiped lightly over the remaining skin.

After soaking the clay cooker in water for fifteen minutes, I simply tied the legs and folded the bird into the cooker, placed it in a cold oven (now that took some getting used to!! No preheating), turned it on at 450 degrees, set the kitchen timer for 85 minutes and left it alone.

The directions suggest adding vegetables, but I didn't this time. There are directions for crisp skin, too, but we found it to be just right.

Not only moist and tender, we ended up with lots of broth. Since we didn't fix potatoes this time, we didn't make gravy but will use it later.

Sorry I didn't take pictures, but I certainly would recommend clay cookers for quick, moist chicken. I was surprised that it cooked within an hour and a half, but it was done all the way through, nothing dried out.

Along with my recommendation, I also say a big "Thanks!!!" to my lovely First Daughter, for the gift and for her thoughtfulness!