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King Henry IV of France promised “a chicken in every pot, every Sunday” to the French again within the seventeenth century and issues haven’t modified a lot since then. Hen stays a basic French Sunday meal, because the strains for roast chickens show on the markets and butcher retailers on the weekends will attest to.
Individuals in France eat hen on different days of the week however some take into account it a second-place meat and for years beef was seen as essentially the most luxurious and wholesome selection. My first housecleaner informed me that I wanted to eat beef on multiple event, to be wholesome. Lately beef consumption has been falling in France, however I usually select hen over beef, which Romain teases me about, saying it’s très américan to order it so usually at eating places, and typically name me le hen man. However after I made this Poule au pot for him lately (at house, so he was pleased), he mentioned it was the perfect he’s ever had. And as you may inform, he’s a troublesome buyer.
Historically, Poule au pot was made with a poule, a stewing hen. Apparently, in the event you go to the Nouvelle Aquitaine web site, the area the place Poule au pot is alleged to originate, the French language model of their Poule au pot recipe requires a poule whereas while you toggle the recipe into English, it requires hen. Their recipe additionally specifies (or non-specifies) a nebulous cooking time within the preparation steps, however slightly below the recipe title it says the recipe takes “2 1/2 hours” to prepare dinner, which sounds about proper for a stewing hen, however a very long time for a hen. The Nouvelle Aquitaine web site additionally requires rice, mushrooms, and “white sauce.” However the picture accompanying the recipe exhibits no rice, mushrooms, or white sauce.
(One other gastronomic distinction between the 2 cultures is that French folks like their greens well-cooked as opposed to what’s typically known as “American-style,” the place they nonetheless have a bit crispness.)
However we had dinner with some pals lately a French-American couple, they noticed me making the Poule au pot on social media. He (the American half) informed me the dish was served with mayonnaise (additional investigation revealed it is usually typically served with sauce Béarnaise) and served in two programs; the hen and greens first, then the bouillion with maybe some vermicelli noodles in it. When you do a deep dive into Poule au pot, there are variations which can be even served chilly, with mayo.
I took a have a look at what Madame E. St.-Ange needed to say in La Bonne Cuisine, which is type of the French Pleasure of Cooking (revealed in 1927, and translated into English in 2005), and he or she provides bacon. She additionally notes that nation kitchens weren’t well-outfitted on the time, and sometimes simply had one fuel burner, so greens weren’t sauteed individually as some folks do now. And he or she additionally mentioned that in skilled French kitchens, cooks are recognized so as to add veal inventory to the pot, to provide the bouillon extra physique, however conceded that was unrealistic for house cooks.
Whenever you purchase a hen in France, they’re ready and trussed even while you get them on the grocery retailer, such because the one I purchased above. It’s a pleasant contact, however in the event you go to a butcher or volailleuse or volailler, they are going to put together the chook for you, eradicating no matter you need eliminated, and tie the entire thing up so it’s able to go. Nevertheless for this recipe, you don’t really want to do this, so no must work on these trussing abilities. Whew!
Chickens offered in France with a Label Rouge image are free-range and are rustique breeds, and produce other qualities that make them different than customary chickens. The meat tends to be firmer and so they launch extra pure gelatin, leading to a extra velvety broth, particularly noticeable while you serve the leftovers the following day.
I used to be scratching my head in a recent newsletter post about shopping at the French markets and questioning why some folks purchase one turnip or a lone parsnip. It appeared to me that in the event you have been going to prepare dinner one root vegetable, because of the longer cooking time, you might as effectively prepare dinner just a few. Afraid somebody would possibly catch me shopping for only one turnip for this, I ended up shopping for two, so that you’re welcome to make use of two if you’d like. No two recipes are the identical for Poule au pot so be at liberty to improvise with different greens.
One place I don’t suggest that you simply go, nonetheless, is towards le dice, dried bouillon in tablet form. They’re used steadily in France however my choice for a shortcut is to resort to Better Than Bouillon, which doesn’t have an extended listing of unpronounceable substances. A reader famous to me that an organization is now promoting boxed stock in France, and for some time Picard, the frozen meals retailer, was promoting baggage of galets (disks) of decreased inventory. (Though I simply checked their web site and it doesn’t appear to be listed any longer. Only one that’s a mix of chicken and beef stock.)
Truthfully, Poule au pot makes the proper dinner any night time of the week. It requires little preparation and is even higher reheated. After I moved to France if I used to be having folks over for dinner, I might determine one hen for each two folks…and at all times had tons of leftovers. Now I understand that one hen can feed six in France. (Sure, that’s proper.) And now I’m stunned after I exit to eat within the U.S. and am served a complete half a hen only for me. I respect the generosity however thank goodness for doggy baggage.
What I can say for a truth is that the 2 of us acquired three meals out of this, the final was a scrumptious hen soup with the leftover hen meat shredded, and served together with the greens in broth. I’ll additionally say that if you will get a good-quality hen, you’ll be rewarded with a richer inventory and a extra flavorful chook. Browning it within the pot isn’t a mandatory step however I discover it offers the sauce extra depth, so suggest doing it.
Poulet au pot (Hen in a Pot)
Servings 4 servings
- 1 medium onion
- 3 complete cloves
- 5 branches recent thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 complete hen
- 12 small boiling onions (or shallots), peeled
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 4 medium (250g) carrots , peeled, reduce into 3/4-inch (2cm) batons
- 1 medium (220g) turnip , peeled and reduce into 1-inch (3cm) cubes
- 1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt
- freshly floor black pepper
- 10 small (400g) new potatoes ,
- 1 quart (1L) water
- 1 quart (1L) hen inventory, do-it-yourself or low-sodium (ideally)
- 4-5 stalks of recent parsley, plus further chopped parsley for garnish
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Make a bouquet garni by studding the onion with the cloves. Wrap them in a bit of cheesecloth or muslin together with the thyme and bay leaves, and tie them in securely with twine.
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Warmth the olive oil and butter in a big Dutch oven over medium-high warmth. When scorching, place the hen in it, breast aspect down and prepare dinner with out shifting it till the breast is golden brown, then flip the hen to brown the hen on the 2 thigh & leg sides, which’ll take about quarter-hour. (You could must prop the hen in opposition to the aspect of the pot to carry it in place whilst you brown the edges.) When you’ve got a bit additional time, you too can brown the underside.
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As soon as browned, take away the hen from the pot, place it on a plate, and add the onions to the pot. Prepare dinner, stirring often, till browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, turnip, and salt, together with some freshly floor pepper, and prepare dinner for an additional minute or two, stirring steadily. Put the hen within the pot together with the bouquet garni. Place the potatoes across the hen, tuck the parsley sprigs in subsequent to the hen and add the water and inventory so it covers about three-quarters of the hen. When you want extra liquid, add further water or inventory.
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Cowl and convey the pot to a boil over excessive warmth, then scale back the warmth to a gradual, however light simmer, with the lid partially opened. Prepare dinner for about 1 hour, till the hen is tender and cooked via, as are the greens. Style for salt and add extra if desired.
Serving: Garnish every serving with chopped parsley.
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