Clay Hot Pot

I am a proud owner of a clay pot that I purchased at Pacific Mall a couple of days ago. I am am anxious to use this new pot! However, I am following the instructions of preparing the clay pot before using it for cooking by soaking it in water for three days. Today, I can use this pot that looks like a covered casserole dish, but that you can also use on your stove top.

Not too sure if it’s a Sand Pot as it is glazed. For first time usage of the pot it suggests starting with minimum temperature and increase the temperature gradually.

The recipes I was able to find on the net used the stove top method to first cook the rice and then add meat and veggies in steps to cook on the stove. I decided to cook all of the stuff in one go in the oven. I used a multigrain rice that had six grains in the mix. I first marinaded skinned chicken breast and turkey sausages in soya sauce, fresh grated ginger and garlic for about an hour. . ..

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I popped in the Hot Pot into a cold oven and after an hour at 325 the liquid was not even warm so I increased the temperature to 375and baked for another hour.

I served this with lightly sautéed long green beans

The dish was tasty, however the chicken was dry and over cooked.. I think that chicken thighs would have worked better here. The dish lacked color. I had planned on added Shrimp and Baby Bok Choy for a few minutes at the end of the cooking time, but since the chicken seemed over done,I did not. Although less cooking time was needed for the meat, which was thawed, it was correct timing for the rice. Overall I was disappointed as although tasty, the dish not only needed color, but also acidity like lime. A soup dish may have been more enjoyable.