Slow Cooked Chives and Rosemary Chicken in Red Wine

(Scroll down for Liver Sauteed in Olive Oil with Bay Leaves and Garlic Recipe)
There is something especially lovely about the smell of wine cooking.  I planned to use a white wine for this recipe, but due to my general laziness and a need to get the chicken in the oven before it was too late in the afternoon I opted for a nice red wine I had in the house.  Cooking a whole chicken in a clay pot takes at least 2 hours.  Depending on its size it can take 2-4 hours.  I usually like to give it 2.5 to 3 hours.  To get back to the wine, I was very pleasantly surprised by the results of the red wine and chicken in the clay pot.  It was wonderful!  This may be my favorite chicken-in-a-clay-pot recipe yet. The recipe is easy and has a minimum of ingredients (which I am very fond of) and uses in season  chives.

Cornish Game Hens in Tomato Bay Leaf Sauce

Two Cornish game hens fit easily in my clay pot.  I served them with purple potatoes, salad and fragrant quinoa cooked with mint leaves.  The tomato sauce was made with canned whole tomatoes crushed by hand with whole garlic cloves, bay leaves, and white wine.  Be sure to pour yourself a glass or two while you cook.  The sauce, pre-chicken is pictured below.  The hens are also great served with baked polenta.

After you have washed and dried the hens place them in the sauce covering them with the tomatoes and bay leaves, as pictured below.

I then placed the potatoes on the top, covered the clay pot and cooked the hens for about 2 hours. 

Above, hens pictured after cooking.