One Pot Chicken

Photo: flickr user mia3mom

Ingredients

1 lrg stewing chicken, well rinsed

2 lrg onion, chopped

2 lrg carrot, chopped

4 stalk celery, chopped

4 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup mixed minced fresh herbs, (such as parsley, 4 cups water

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup flour

Preparation

Place the chicken, vegetables and water in a cast iron pot or large stew pot. Cover with a tight fitting lid. Suspend just far enough over an open fire to bring the water to a simmer and keep it there. Simmer for one and a half hours. Alternatively place on a burner on a modern stove and do the same.

While the chicken cooks make a modern roux with the flour and butter. Melt the butter and stir in the flour until a smooth thick paste forms.

In the last twenty minutes of cooking add the herbs. When done carefully remove the chicken and vegetables to a serving platter. To make gravy whisk the roux into the simmering juices that remain. Serve immediately.

One of the most profound cooking experiences I have ever had was at the King's Landing historical settlement in rural New Brunswick. Laurie Mar, the best cook in the village, and I made this very simple dish in a cast iron pot suspended over an open hearth. We used a chicken and vegetables that I gathered that day in the village. Don't be fooled by the recipe's simplicity, the quality of the organic vegetables and the free-range chicken made it one of the tastiest dishes I've ever enjoyed. The live fire helped connect me to thousands of years of cooking and made me realize how fortunate we are today in an age of modern conveniences. Or are we?