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.
To make the chicken: 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 make the vinaigrette: 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.
Storing: 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.