It’s been one of those days.
We were flat out all morning, and then had just half an hour to organise dinner before racing out to a 3pm appointment in the city. Big Boy was at an exam at uni, and I was keen to have dinner ready for him at a reasonable hour.
So we used the Römertopf baker. Those of you who’ve been following our blog for a while will know how enamored we are with these clay pots. I waxed lyrical about them nearly four years ago, and the same pot is still in regular use in our kitchen today.
This recipe was inspired by Hotly Spiced’s Quick and Easy Herby Roast Chicken, although it’s not nearly as elegant as Charlie’s version. We started with a large pile of herbs from the garden – lots of parsley, a few sage leaves, thyme and plenty of oregano…
The dish included coarse bulgur – our current favourite grain…
Unlike fine bulgur, the coarse version needs to be boiled for ten minutes…
We also added our first ever turnips, grown from a punnet of seedlings that we bought on spec. The turnips are nice, but the leaves are absolutely delicious…
The complete ingredients list was as follows:
- 1 large free range chicken
- 1 cup coarse bulgur wheat
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 80g salted butter, softened
- lots of herbs, coarsely chopped
- salt and pepper
- root vegetables (optional)
Some loose instructions:
1. Soak the Romertopf baker in a sink filled with cold water.
2. Add the bulgur to a pot of boiling salted water and boil until cooked, about 10 minutes. Drain well and return to the pot. Stir in half the chopped herbs and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool while you prepare the chicken.
3. In a small bowl, squelch together the butter and remaining herbs and garlic. Season with a little salt and pepper. Carefully slide your hand under the skin of the chicken breast to loosen it, then stuff the space with the butter-herb mixture. Cut two deep slashes in each drumstick and stuff a little of the mixture in there as well. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Remove the base of the clay baker from the water and pour in the bulgur and herbs, plus any vegetables. Lay the prepared chicken (breast side up) on top. Put the lid on the pot, and place it into a cold oven.
5. Turn the oven to 200C with fan, and bake for 1½ hours. Remove the lid and bake for a further 15 – 20 minutes, until the chicken is well browned and cooked through.
We had to race out early, so I left the clay pot (filled and ready to go) sitting in a couple of inches of water in the sink, and asked Small Man to take over…
We got home just as the timer was going off! I removed the lid of the clay pot and allowed the chicken to brown up for a further 15 minutes before serving.
This meal literally took us half an hour to prepare. It was then just a case of letting the clay baker do its magic in the oven. An easy, delicious way to end a busy week!
Addendum: A “morning after” photo – I put the Römertopf straight into the dishwasher last night – no soaking or precleaning, I just scraped out the leftovers. This is how it came out (honest!)…
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Love meals like this Celia.
Have a beautiful weekend.
;-) Mandy xo
Thanks Mandy! xx
WOW! We love bulgur, seems that it would be great menu! Thank you dear Celia, love, nia
Nia, the bulgur was from Turkey, I thought of you! We’ve decided we like the coarse better than the fine! Hope all is ok, love. xx
I love roasted chicken and herbs. This would make a very nice meal and the added bulgur just adds to the appeal!
Heidi, the clay pot just made it easy and convenient, but I reckon it would work just as well in a tray in the oven! :)
Wow, Celia – my Romertopf is coming right down off the shelf….
Carol, that’s great! Ours gets used about once a month these days, more in winter! :)
My sister-in-law has been using one of these since the late 60s when they appeared in Germany, where she was living at the time. She is most enthusiastic.
Pat, I’m most enthusiastic too, because it’s simple cooking, just one pot and it goes into the dishwasher. Actually, I’m probably *most* enthusiastic about the dishwasher bit.. :D
Wow, never hear of one of those Rom….. here in Argentina, but I´d love to have one!
Ale, they’re a German design, and we’re besotted with them. Here’s their website: http://www.roemertopf.de/english/
A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of your blog. I love it, you have inspired me to bake bread, I’ve tried your Nutella scrolls, normal white loaf and am now attempting a sourdough. I’ve pulled my romertopf down off the shelf and not only used it to bake bread but also a couple of chicken dishes!
Thank you Celia for re-igniting my love of cooking.
Sue, thank you for leaving such a fabulous comment – makes this whole blogging thing worthwhile! So glad you’re having fun! :)
Gah! Every time I read about you baking in your Romertopf, I kick myself for leaving it behind when I left my ex! I bet you he has NEVER used it, but I know for sure he won’t part with it either. Next time Aldi has them on sale, I’m buying one! Your chooky looks yummy!
Bugger, love. I’ll let you know next time I see one on sale! :)
Mmm….yum. I think I might need a romertopf . The chicken looks so moist
Thanks for sharing Celia
Jo, thanks, the best thing about the Romertopf is that it keeps everything moist because of the presoaking…oh hang on, that’s the second best thing. The BEST thing is that it goes in the dishwasher. :D
So delicious indeed Celia, and I bet you could smell it as soon as you pulled up in the driveway! How lovely to walk in the door to such a great dinner ready to go, and good job Small Man for remembering to put it on in time! Xox
Small Man took it all very seriously, Becca. :) The timer went off at exactly the right time, and you’re right, the aroma when we walked in the house was fabulous! :)
I have a Romertopf in the bowels of pantry – I really must dig it out. this dish looks fantastic.
Amanda, it’s perfect for winter – we throw all sorts of things into it. It makes roasting meat quite easy, as it doesn’t dry out..
I do not have a Romertopf but I have the Chinese sandpot which I think serves the same purpose. Should bring it out of storage and make this chicken. How delightful that Small Man is able to help with meal preparations,
Norma, I’m a bit besotted with clay, and I think that’s a product of growing up with my mum cooking in Chinese sandpots. I actually have some Emile Henry pots which I now use for sandpot dishes, and unlike my mum’s old ones, they don’t crack! :)
Seems to me you have reminded quite a few of us to dig our clay pots out: mine is difficult to reach but I know where :) ! Love the recipe, love the method and I had absolutely no idea turnip leaves were edible [well, the ones I usually manage to get are nowhere as beautiful as your homegrown ones either!] . . . skies getting nasty . . . you may get more of the wet than I : hope nothing floods!!
Eha, haven’t we had a lot of rain! Hope all is ok where you are.. x
Your Romertopf sounds like a great cooking vessel. So easy to use and clean. That chicken dinner you prepared using it sounds terrific, Celia. I enjoy turnip greens but have never had them as fresh as yours were. I bet they made the perfect side for that chicken.
John, thank you – I didn’t get to take a photo of the turnip greens which were stir-fried in a little butter and garlic. They were delicious, I can see why folks grow turnips just for the leaves!
I may have to reaarange cupboard space to accomodate a Romertopf. I grabbed an organic chicken last weekend thinking it would be good for Sunday night dinner and leftovers Monday night but our afternoon with the Dalai Lama and lesiurely return home on Sunday left it too late. I bought a bag of roasted chestnuts in Chinatown to nibble but there were heaps left and after thinking of your affection for chicken and chestnuts combo I whizzed them up for the stuffing so we had delicious Monday & night roast chook dinners :)
ED, I LOVE chestnuts, as you know. I’ve never stuffed them into a chicken though, even though I know that’s quite traditional. Did you add sage as well?
I’ve never used burghul other than for tabbouleh so I like the sound of this. A friend gave me her old Romertopf a while back plus I have one of another brand so this will be our Monday roast dish, thanks Celia! (Monday being my day off I do a roast.)
Rose, using the bulgur was an experiment – it’s such a cheap and forgiving grain and we always seem to have some in the pantry. It made a nice change from rice! :)
Love a meal that’s easy to prepare. Is the inside of the romertopf glazed? I saw one in an op shop that wasn’t and I wasn’t sure if it would work the same.
Jo, yes, it’s glazed. I’m not sure how well the unglazed ones wash up – the newer ones I’ve seen in recent years have all been glazed. It might be worth a punt though! :) PS. I’m not sure if you can wash the unglazed ones in the dishwasher…
Thanks Celia for the good wrap – so generous of you. Love how all your herbs came from your garden – you’re well ahead of me there! Your chicken looks amazing and I love how Small Man was in control of the kitchen and everything worked out perfectly – what a triumph! I don’t think I’ve ever had turnip greens. When I buy turnips the greens have all been removed – we are such a wasteful generation xx
Charlie, I’ve never had turnip greens before either, but we’ll definitely grow these again! So glad your blog has been fixed, love. x
Wow, this dinner looks so delicious Celia and I love how easy it is to prepare, Definitely going to be trying turnip tops too
Andrea, the nice thing about the clay pot is that once it’s in the oven, there’s very little to do! I get quite lazy in winter.. :)
I have a tagine but rarely use it. It’s a pain to clean. This chicken looks wonderful. I’ll have to try this for the mencats.
Isn’t it interesting how, the older we get, the more important ease of cleaning becomes to us? I think it has to do with sore old bones and muscles.. :)
You are a wonder Mrs Fig Jam. Clever organised and a lovely mother!
Ah, you’re kind T, thank you! xx
I always stuff chickens under the skin – it gives me a perverse pleasure while I’m doing it – is that strange?!! Hear hear to previous comment.
Sally, thank you – the stuffing under the skin certainly produced the most tender breast meat ever…
The chicken looks delicious!
Thanks Tandy! x
Mmm there’s nothing better than a lovely roast chicken is there? Food of the gods! And even better when it is easy to clean up afterwards :)
Ha! You and your chicken! I thought about making mayo to go with it, but we’re all out of fresh eggs, the chooks have completely stopped laying!
What a great meal!
Cheers Greg, thank you! :)
Hope you’re feeling brighter celia! I’ve been trying to work out what to cook for dinner. Thought I’d look here for inspiration and found it! Petes lasagna it is. I was thinking of giving my pot away as I haven’t really used it. Not now… Thanks and take care. Xxx
Thanks Ali. Lovely to chat yesterday! And how great that the lasagne worked out so well! x