Ingredients
1/2 preserved lemon, rinsed well
1 C water
1/4 C sugar
5 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and each cut into 8 same-sized pieces (you can use white potatoes, if you prefer)
16 small white onions, yellow onions, or shallots
8 carrots, trimmed, peeled and quartered
4 celery stalks, trimmed, peeled and quartered
4 garlic heads, cloves separated but not peeled
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 thyme sprigs
3 parsley sprigs
2 rosemary sprigs
1 chicken, about 4 pounds, preferably organic, whole or cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature
1 C chicken broth
1/2 C dry white wine
1.5 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C hot water
Preparation
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees
- Using a paring knife, slice the peel from the preserved lemon and cut it into small squares. Discard the pulp.
- Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, drop in the peel, and cook for 1 minute. Drain and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the vegetables and garlic, season with salt and pepper and saute until vegetables are brown on all sides. (If necessary, do this in 2 batches.) Spoon vegetables into a 4-1/2 to 5 quart Dutch oven or other pot with a lid and stir in the herbs and the preserved lemon.
- Return the skillet to the heat and add another tablespoon of olive oil. Brown the chicken on all sides, seasoning it with sat and pepper as it cooks.
- Tuck chicken into the casserole, surrounding it with the vegetables.
- Mix together the broth, wine and the remaining olive oil and pour over the chicken and vegetables.
- Put 1-1/2 cups of flour in a medium bowl and add enough hot water to make a malleable dough. Dust a work surface with a little flour, turn out the dough, and, working with your hands, roll the dough into a sausage.
- Place the dough on the rim of the pot - if it breaks, just piece it back together - and press the lid onto the dough to seal the pot. dough to seal the pot. (save yoursef time by using store-bought pizza)
- Slide the pot into the oven and bake for 55 minutes.
- Now you have a choice - you can break the seal in the kitchen or do it at the table, where it’s bound to make a mess but where everyone will have the pleasure of sharing that first fragrant whiff as you lift the lid with a flourish. Whether at the table or in the kitchen, the best tool to break the seal is the least attractive: a screwdriver. Use the point of the screwdriver as a lever to separate the lid from the dough.
Serve with French bread for dipping and for spreading with the sweet garlic popped from the skins.
