ROAST CHICKEN WITH PAN-SAUCE VINAIGRETTE

Makes 4 servings

I taste France in every bite of this dish. The chicken, which roasts

undisturbed in a covered pot, is moist and fragrant, having picked up the

aromas of its pot-mates: lemon and herbs, carrots, shallots and garlic, which

cooks to beyond golden and just about melts in the process. The chicken

doesn’t get crispy and dark — it’s not that kind of dish — but it gets deeply

flavorful. And then it gets even more flavor when you pop out some of those

garlic cloves and use them and the pan drippings to make a sharp vinaigrette

to drizzle over both the meat and a green salad. It’s an all-in-one meal, the

kind you used to be able to find in classic bistros throughout France and

now mostly find only in the homes of cooks with a taste for simple goodness.

The success of the dish doesn’t depend on technique — you put a chicken

in a pot and don’t open the oven until it’s done — but on the quality of the

bird. The best choice for this is, not surprisingly, an organic, free-range

chicken. Be generous with the herbs and don’t be disturbed when you lift the

lid and discover that some of your vegetables have charred — it’s all in the

service of making a terrific vinaigrette, since you’ll be using the pan

drippings to replace the usual oil in a vinaigrette. I like to add a drizzle of

walnut oil to the mix — it’s a background flavor to be sure, but it adds depth

and another touch of Frenchness.

For the chicken

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 carrot, scrubbed, trimmed and sliced into 1-inch-thick rounds

1 shallot, sliced, rinsed and patted dry

4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

4 sprigs fresh sage

2 bay leaves

Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 chicken, about 4 pounds (1¾ kg), patted dry

½ lemon

1 head garlic, cut horizontally in half

¾ cup (180 ml) white wine

For the vinaigrette

About ½ cup (120 ml) water

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (preferably French)

3 tablespoons sherry vinegar

Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon walnut oil

Mixed salad greens (3 to 4 handfuls), for serving

Fleur de sel or flake salt, such as Maldon, for serving

TO M A K E T H E C H I C K E N : Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 450

degrees F.

Put 2½ tablespoons of the olive oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven. Toss in the

carrot, shallot, 2 sprigs each of the thyme, rosemary and sage and 1 of the bay

leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Rub the chicken with the remaining ½

tablespoon oil, season inside and out with salt and pepper and stuff with 2

sprigs each of the herbs and the remaining bay leaf.

Put the chicken in the pot. Squeeze over the juice from the half lemon and

pop the lemon inside the chicken. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine, if

you have it. Put one half of the garlic head, cut side down, on either side of

the chicken and pour in the wine. Cover the pot, slide it into the oven and set

the timer for 90 minutes.

When the buzzer rings, pull the pot from the oven and very carefully lift

off the lid — lift it away from you to avoid the steam. The chicken may not be

browned, so if you want some color, you can place it on a foil-lined baking

sheet and run it under the broiler. (Reserve the contents of the pot.)

Transfer the chicken to a platter, cover it loosely with a foil tent and let it

rest while you make the vinaigrette.

TO M A K E T H E V I N A I G R E T T E : Pour off all but 6 tablespoons of the pan

drippings from the pot. (If your drippings have mostly cooked away, gotten

dark or actually burned, all’s not lost — they’ll still make a good vinaigrette

after you loosen everything with the water.) Discard the vegetables, herb

sprigs and bay leaf, but hold on to the garlic. Pour the water into the pot,

place over medium heat and cook, scraping, until you’ve picked up all the

good bits (and flavor) that were stuck — add a little more water, if needed. If

you the sauce is too chunky, strain.

Squeeze 6 to 8 of the softened garlic cloves into a small bowl and mash

them into a paste with a fork or spoon. Whisk in the mustard and vinegar

and season with salt and pepper. Whisking gently, slowing pour in the

reserved pan drippings and the walnut oil. Taste the vinaigrette and decide

if you want more salt and/or pepper, or if you’d like to add more of any of the

other ingredients.

Carve the chicken and drizzle over a little of the vinaigrette. Lightly dress

the salad greens with some of the vinaigrette. Serve the salad alongside, over

or under the chicken, passing the remaining vinaigrette and flake salt for

extra seasoning at the table.

S TO R I N G : Leftover chicken can be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator

for up to 4 days; the vinaigrette will keep in a covered jar equally long.