FLOWER POT KITCHEN: CLAY POT TANDOORI CHICKEN

26 Oct 2017

CLAY POT TANDOORI CHICKEN

So Simple...So Quick

Once you have cooked in a Tandoori Clay Pot you will never go back! The most moist succulent juiciest chicken you will ever eat, fall of the bone tender, aromatic from the spice rub and I don't know if it is the clay cooking pot or chicken brick as it's known in the south west but something adds another layer of flavour that you just can't get from a enamel, or cast iron roasting tin.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 55 minutes

Ingredients

(serves family of 4)

1 whole chicken un-trussed

100ml water

The Tandoori Spice Rub

(Store bought or make your own below)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 coriander seeds

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp turmeric

Tandoori Spice Rub

Heat a non stick pan or skillet and warm the cumin and coriander seeds until warm, in a pestle and mortal grind the seeds then mix with the rest of ingredients, thats your spice rub done. Keep in a air tight ball mason jar until needed.

Clay Pot Cooking

If you regularly cook with a clay Tandoori Pot or Chicken Brick you will know that you need to soak your cooking pot in cold water for 15 minutes before using, for you guys not in the know this is to prime the porous clay pot so that it does not suck up all your natural chicken stock cooking juices, if this was to happen you would have a cooked chicken but a very dry one!

Pre heat your oven 180 C / 356 F. Rub the chicken generously with your tandoor spices, place in your soaked clay pot and add the water, pop the lid on and place in your pre heated oven, a medium chicken will cook in 55 minutes, once cooked remove the clay pot from the oven and leave with the lid on to rest for around 15 minutes then serve and use the cooking juices as your gravy.

If you keep back the cooking juices and leave to cool, pop in the fridge you will get chicken jelly, which I call chicken jipper, a sort of loaded chicken spread that is great on toast, or used as a stock for your next country chicken gravy.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.