Yet another of Nigella Lawson's clever re-inventions of the classic roast chicken, this Chicken in a Pot with Lemon and Orzo is an all-in-one crowd-pleaser. This is not exactly the same as perhaps the most precious recipe in my reper-toire, My Mother’s Praised Chicken, which found a home in my eighth book, Kitchen, but it owes a lot to it.
The whole chicken is essentially poached in water with aromatics that include carrots, leeks, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, and dried tarragon. Once the chicken is nearly cooked through, you gently stir in the orzo to let it cook in the liquid.
You can bring the whole vessel to the table, tear off big shreds of meat, ladle it all into a bowl, and feel like a hero. It's a perfect Nigella dish: confident, sensual, riffable, forgiving, golden brown. Lawson champions brown food.