I’ve baked my sourdough hearth loaves in covered clay pots for years, and recommend that same strategy to the many baking students that travel to my Bull Brook Keep teaching kitchen. Why? because the covered vessels provide a blast of heat and moisture-saving enclosure that yields high rises, crisp crusts and tender crumb laced with glossy holes.
That said, I’m a newbie when it comes to cooking and roasting in clay, a culinary tradition that spans a couple of thousand years (at least) and is used in nearly every country on the globe.
My first attempt was making a whole chicken. I followed advice gleaned from a couple of cookbooks and comments on the Cooking with Clay Facebook group. It was also there that I became aware of Clay Coyote, and Minnesota pottery maker renown for its beautiful and functional clay cookware.
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- flameware pan
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- tagine
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- casserole
I hope you enjoy this Deep Roots Radio interview with Clay Coyote CEO/Owner Morgan Baum. She grew up amid the clay and firing at Clay Coyote and is taking it into the future.
About the chicken? Well, as I said, I followed instructions pulled from old books and offered by fellow enthusiasts.
First, I soaked the bottom and lid of my terracotta roaster in a deep sink of water. After draining the pot, I placed sliced fennel bulb (another thing I don’t use much) onions and sweet peppers in the pot. I then added a couple of herbs I haven’t used much – tarragon and marjoram – and a good glug of very dry white wine. The whole chicken nestled on top of the veggies. I put on the lid and placed the pot in a cold – yes cold – oven.
I set the dial to 300F and let the oven sit there for five minutes. I then upped the oven to 450F and let her go for 1.5 hours.
The result? Every piece of that chicken was moist. The skin was crisp. The veggies were delicious. I was sold!
Since then, I’ve dived into making beans in clay, and to poaching eggs in savory sauces. It makes such sense: great ingredients cooked in pots shaped from the earth.