Recipe: Clay Pot Orange Chicken and Roast Beef in a Clay Pot for Margaret

Clay-Pot Orange Chicken
From: The Clay-Pot Cookbook by Georgia and Grover Sales

1 (3 to 4 pound) chicken
Salt
Pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 medium oranges, peeled and sliced (reserve the rinds)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon allspice, ground
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Arrowroot

Presoak pot, top and bottom, in water for fifteen minutes. Wash chicken, inside and out, under running cold water. Rub inside of chicken with salt, pepper and pressed garlic. Stuff with orange slices, peeled. Place chicken in pot, breast down. Grate the orange rind and sprinkle over chicken. Add orange juice, soy sauce, ginger, allspice and brown sugar. Place covered pot in cold oven. Turn temperature to 480 degrees F. Cook 90 minutes. Ten minutes before done, remove from oven, pour liquid into saucepan. Return the pot, uncovered, to oven for final 10 minutes to brown the chicken. Meanwhile, bring sauce to a boil and thicken with arrowroot. You may want to add a bit of brown sugar to the sauce, to taste. Yield: 4 servings

ROAST BEEF IN THE CLAY POT
Source: "The Clay-Pot Cookbook" by Georgia MacLeod Sales and Grover Sales
Servings: 6

5 lb Rolled roast of beef
1 tsp Salt
Pepper -- to taste
6 sm White onions -- peeled
6 md Carrots -- peel/slice lengthwis
6 sm New potatoes -- unpeeled
6 lg Mushrooms -- sliced
3 tb Parsley, fresh -- chopped
2 Bay leaves -- whole
1 tsp Arrowroot -- approximately

"Roast beef steamed in the clay pot is a different experience. The meat has a delightful texture you can't find in beef cooked any other way. But one word of caution: it's going to take much less time to cook than you think. Rely strictly on your meat thermometer. The size of both the pot and roast will make a difference. If you like your beef rare, check the thermometer after 40 minutes. You can omit the vegetables if you don't want a complete dinner." Presoak your largest clay pot, top and bottom, in water fifteen minutes. Trim fat from beef and rub with salt and pepper. Place beef in pot and insert meat thermometer. Add to pot all above ingredients, plus 1 teaspoon salt and dash of pepper. Place covered pot in cold oven. Set temperature to 480 degrees. For rare beef, check meat thermometer after 40 minutes. For medium beef, check after 1 hour. For well-done beef--if you really want it that way--check after 90 minutes. Remove pot from oven when meat thermometer is almost up to temperature. (Don't wait until it's right on the nose or it will be overdone.) Pour liquid into saucepan, bring to boil and thicken with about 1/2 teaspoon arrowroot.