Chicken en Cocotte

The Cookery Nookery is going French. I was looking through cookbooks and came across this recipe for "a Parisian bistro classic". It seemed easy enough, didn't require too many ingredients, and promised tender, juicy, chicken. I like all of these things. The book also told me that "chicken en cocotte" basically translates to "chicken in a pot", which it pretty accurate. Google tells me that "cocotte" can also mean female prostitute. Let's make some prostitute chicken!

Basically the ingredients are: chicken and things for flavor. I used a roughly 4 1/2 pound chicken which surprised me by it's cheapness. It was less than five bucks. The rest of the ingredients add up to maybe a buck or two, so overall a cheap meal.

The chicken is simply patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Throw it in a Dutch oven and scatter some onion, garlic and rosemary (aka flavor!) in there.

You're supposed to brown it breast-side down for five minutes and then breast-side up for six to eight. This makes the chicken look a little bit more appealing (otherwise due to it's low-and-slow cooking method it wouldn't color at all and it cooks the dark meat a bit so all of your chicken is done at the same time). Into the oven it goes!

Out of the oven it comes! The chicken gets set aside to rest and the juices de-fattened. The garlic and onions get smooshed into a paste and then chicken juice and garlic paste (plus lemon, salt and pepper) get made into a lovely pan sauce.

The end product was a tender and juicy chicken. The pan sauce was also delish with its roasted garlic flavor. What can I say? I like a well-cooked chicken. Who doesn't?


Chicken en cocotte

1 (4 1/2 to 5-pound) whole chicken, giblets discarded
Salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, sliced thin
12 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2-1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Adjust an oven rack to lowest position and heat the oven to 250 degrees. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, tuck the wings behind the back, and season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken, breast-side down, and scatter the onion, garlic, bay leaf, rosemary around the chicken. Cook until the chicken breast is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken breast-side up and continue to cook until the back of the chicken and the vegetables are well browned, 6 to 8 minutes, reducing heat if the pot begins to scorch.

3. Off the heat, place a large sheet of foil over the pot and press to seal, then cover tightly with the lid. Transfer the pot to the oven and cook until the thickest part of the breast registers 160-165 degrees and the thickest part of the thigh registers 170-175 degrees, 80 to 110 minutes.

4. Remove the pot from the oven. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes. Strain the juices from the pot into a fat-separator, reserving the strained vegetables. Let the juices settle for about 5 minutes.

5. Mash cooked garlic with the back of a spoon to create a paste. Add the defatted juices back to the pot, add the strained vegetables and garlic paste and any accumulated juices from the chicken, and cook over low heat until hot. Discard the bay leaf and rosemary and season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Carve the chicken and serve, passing the sauce separately.