This recipe is my new favorite Shabbat dinner, like a cholent, it is so versatile, you can use any vegetables you like. The preserved lemon adds a nice flavor but not necessary. For this recipe I really like using kosher pastured chicken from Grow & Behold.
Chicken in a Pot
Servings
4 Servings
Ingredients
- ½ preserved lemon rinsed well
- ¼ cup sugar
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large potato cut into large chunks
- 1 large sweet potato peeled and cut into large chunks
- 16 small onions or shallots
- 8 large carrots peeled and quartered lenghthwise
- 4 celery stalks peeled and quartered lengthwise
- 4 large garlic heads cloves removed, but skin left on
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 thyme sprigs
- 3 parsley sprigs
- 2 rosemary sprigs
- 1 Grow & Behold Chicken about 4 pounds, whole or cut into pieces
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup dry white wine optional
- 1 package matzo ball mix – prepared as per package
Instructions
- 1 Preheat oven to 450°F, making sure there is enough space for a large pot.
- 2 Slice the peel from the preserved lemon and cut it into squares, save juice to add to dish and discard pulp.
- 3 Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small pan, drop in the peel and cook for 1 minute. Drain and set aside.
- 4 In a large Dutch oven over high heat, heat 2 tablespoons oil, add vegetables and garlic and allow to brown. Do this in batches, sprinkling salt and pepper, and then put everything on a plate.
- 5 Put chicken in pan and brown on all sides. Then return vegetables to the pot. Mix together broth and wine and any remaining olive oil and pour over the chicken and vegetables.
- 6 With the matzo ball mix, either place large matzoh balls on top of the dish or use it around the edges to seal the top to the pot.
- 7 Put the pot in the oven and bake for 55 minutes.
- 8 Serve right out of the pot.
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I don’t know if you can really double it, because I am not sure how you would fit more chicken unless you have a really large pot.
If you do that I would think to just follow the same instructions, but have it cook longer,. maybe an extra 20-30 minutes
If I want to double the recipe, do I reduce the temperature? Cook for longer? How long?
You can use pieces on the bone without reducing the cooking time, it is pretty good still.
Can I use cut up dark meat chicken pieces or will it be less flavorful? Maybe reduce the cooking time?
IT works best in a Dutch Oven, but I have made it in a casserole too – just cover it well before cooking even if you have to use tinfoil.
How do I make this if I don’t have a Dutch oven pot?
No, I haven’t been using them for a while when I ran out (and the I really did not like the store bought ones I found) while the flavor from the lemons is nice, it is absolutely not essential.
Sorry for the confusion, I based this recipe on one that seals the pot with a flour and water mixture and I tried it with matzo meal the second time, but really in both cases I found that step messy and have since nixed it. I just use a nice Dutch oven and the seal is plenty strong and this way the matzo balls are just in the pot, so I would stick with that and forget the sealing the pot mixture idea. And no, it doesn’t need to let steam escape, keep it all in. Try it and let me know. Oh and I really enjoy the flavor of the sweet potato in this dish, but my kids also prefer just potatoes, so whatever you like.
Hi Tamar: first, looks great but I too, even after the earlier questions have been answered, am confused by the matzo instructions. In instruction #6, you write: “ With the matzo ball mix, you can either place large matzo balls on top of the dish or use it around the edges to seal the top to the pot.”
Okay, well, I get the making the matzo into balls and dropping them around the chicken and THEN putting a tight lid on the pot and baking. But, what do you mean by “use it around the edges to seal the pot”? Are you asking for a full layer of matzo to be rolled out and laid on top of the entire pot like you would do for the top layer of a fruit pie? If not, then how do you make the balls of matzo ‘seal” the pot? Are you asking for a circular shape of matzo to be placed around the edge of the pot, and only there to come into contact with the pot lid? I just don’t understand the ‘sealing the pot” idea with the matzo. And, in the pictures I see no matzo so it looks like you did not use the matzo for the picture-taking example. Perhaps if you did include your idea of how the matzo would ‘seal’ the pot and took a picture we could get an idea of what you were after. Also, if you did want to use a full, cover-the-pot layer of matzo, I would of course think you would make a few holes to let steam escape. At any rate, with or without the matzo, the time-honored combination of carrot, onion, garlic and celery is always a winner and you cannot go wrong and the house will smell wonderful! I like the idea of wine added and potatoes but I will pass on the sweet potato and just use a Yukon Gold type. Thanks for your answers and sorry to be so confused – I’d like to try this tonight if you can answer today, if not, will try next week. Many thanks!
What if I don’t want to make preserved lemons? Is that an essential step?
Yes to your first question, you are browning everything and then putting it all in the pot. You can brown in a frying pan and then place in a pyrex if you prefer, but you do want it to be sealed tight when cooking, which answers your second question of yes it should be covered until serving. Traditionally they actually put a plain dough to seal the pot shut, but I found it messy and difficult and unnecessary. No special order, but I like to put the vegetables on the bottom and a bit to the sides so the chicken is in the middle with veggies around and under.
Just a couple of quick questions…are you essentially just browning everything in batches and then putting it all in a dish to bake? Is that why you used a Dutch oven, so that you could use the same pot to brown, as to bake? I was confused by the one picture that looked like a Pyrex dish, since I didn’t think you could brown in that. Is there any special ordering of the ingredients before putting the dish in the oven? Finally, is the dish covered for baking? Thanks in advance!
It is sort of like a salty lemon – here is a recipe to make your own http://www.joyofkosher.com/recipes/preserved-lemons/ – they really add a nice depth of flavor if you can make or buy them.
Sounds delicious! What is a “preserved lemon”?
Renee
Great dish. Love the flavors. Will definitely make again
made this for shabbos. everyone loved it the chicken had so much flavor and the vegetables went so fast
We like this recipe. At first I was hesitate to try it then I was happy that i did. I like the fact that the matza balls are more like a dumpling. This will be past down to my married children its fast easy and all three food groups in one pot. Can’t beat that.
I don’t think it can be made in the crock pot, but I don’t really know, I guess you have to brown everything first in a pan and then maybe you could try it, but you don’t want it to cook for hours, I think 2 hours would be the most.
Interesting. Can this be done in a crock pot? Sounds like a perfect Pesach chicken!
I guess the matzo balls are sort of baked and they are kind of fatty cause they take in the juices of the chicken. I adapted the recipe from one that sealed the pot with a flour dough, at that time one of my kids didn’t really liked chicken so the matzo balls and the veggies gave him enough to eat, but you don’t need them. The chicken comes out so good though.
so the matzo balls become kind of like “dumplings?”
i always thought that chicken in the pot was a whole chicken boiled w bunches of veggies & noodles & matzo balls. this is different way of doing it.
I feel stupid but I can’t figure out the matza balls…do I make the soup in a separate pot and then place the cooked matza balls in with the chicken? Or, do I just prepare the matza balls and place them in the dutch oven not-cooked? Sorry but I can’t seem to figure it out.
LOL, not a stupid question, I guess it does seem off to place the raw matzo balls in the pot, but that is what I do and they taste amazing, but not as soft and fluffy as in soup and that is how we prefer it in this dish. It cooks in all the chicken juices and fat and ends up sort of baking so the texture is a little firmer, but not hard. let me know how you like them.
I made this again last night and wow, it was amazing, but I used already peeled garlic and it is much preferred, the flavor was still fantastic and no skins to deal with.