Midwinter Chicken

Total Time: 3 hrs Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 roasting chicken
• 6 carrots
• 6 small onions
• 6 small potatoes
• 6 large mushrooms (fresh, not canned)
• 1 celeriac, bulb (also known as celery root) or 2 stalks celery
• 28 ounces whole canned tomatoes or 4 -6 fresh tomatoes, peeled
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 3 tablespoons sherry wine, divided
• 6 inches fresh thyme sprigs
• 6 leaves fresh parsley
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1 dash fresh ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon celery seed
• olive oil
• fresh parsley (to garnish) (optional)

Recipe

• 1 cut chicken into serving pieces. tip--if you divide the breast in 3 pieces lengthwise instead of just 2 the portions will be more even. a very large roaster or stew hen might be big enough to cut the breast crosswise as well into 4 or even 6 pieces.
• 2 wash and trim the mushrooms.
• 3 wash, trim, and peel the carrots, onions, celariac and potatoes. potatoes may be scrubbed and left unpeeled if preferred.
• 4 cut carrots into 3-inch lengths and cut the celariac into chunks about the size of golf balls. if using celery scrub, trim, and cut into 4-inch chunks.
• 5 drain tomatoes. reserve juice for another purpose if desired.
• 6 heat olive oil in a large, heavy skillet and brown the chicken pieces thoroughly. drain on paper to absorb excess fat.
• 7 place vegetables and garlic clove into a large, tightly-lidded roasting pan.
• 8 arrange chicken pieces on top of the vegetables with the herbs on top of the chicken.
• 9 pour 1 cup chicken stock into the dutch oven.
• 10 drizzle 1 tbs sherry evenly over the chicken pieces.
• 11 roast covered at 250°f for 3-4 hours or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.
• 12 remove chicken to a warmed serving platter and keep hot.
• 13 remove vegetables to a warmed serving bowl, discarding the thyme, parsley, garlic and celery. keep hot.
• 14 pour out the pan juices into a bowl and skim away any excess fat.
• 15 return one cup of the defatted pan juices to the dutch oven along with the cream and the other 2 tbs sherry. add the celery seed, salt, and pepper. cook on medium-low heat on the stove top until just simmering.
• 16 whisk the cornstarch into the milk then add this mixture to the pan. stir constantly until the gravy simmers. continue to simmer 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly with the whisk until the gravy thickens. if more gravy is desired there should be plenty of pan juices to make it--just keep the proportions the same to retain the richness.
• 17 serve each person chicken and vegetables then pass the gravy boat.
• 18 i'd suggest a salad of romaine or butterhead lettuce or buttered green beans as sides and would recommend hearty, crusty bread or rolls to help mop up the gravy.
• 19 if you have a very large platter it would make a pretty presentation to arrange the chicken in the middle surrounded by vegetables, drizzled with the gravy, and garnished with a bit of fresh parsley.