Poule au pot
Jan 24, 2010 21:18:41 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2010 21:18:41 GMT
Poule au pot is a dish that dates back to Henri IV, when it was hoped that every family would be able to afford a chicken once a week. The “poule” in question is an old hen that has stopped laying but which can still be useful on your kitchen table. This is not one of those industrial chickens only a few months old but one which has reached the ripe old age of 2 or 3 years. It is a tough bird if not prepared correctly. There is nothing difficult about the recipe, but it can be quite time consuming so you might want to consider it to be a handicraft project.
The hen should still contain its liver and gizzard, and besides that, you will also be needing some winter vegetables: turnip, carrot, celery root, leek, parsnip, potato, onion, shallot. It is also advised to have a piece of pork belly on hand, as it can be ground into a glorious stuffing to put inside the hen with a few other things.
The first thing to do is to soak a piece of stale bread in some milk (getting more complicated all the time, isn’t it?). Chop up the liver and gizzard and chop and add any other leftover meat that might be on hand: bacon, roast, steak… Chop 4 shallots and mix them with the other chopped items as well of the bread, from which you have squeezed out most of the milk. Oh yes, and throw in a raw egg.
Use salt and pepper and whatever spices you find suitable: herbes de Provence, parsley, chives, paprika…
Stuff the hen with this mixture and sew her back up. You do not need a medical degree to do this, and she will feel no pain. You do not want the stuffing to come tumbling out into the broth.
Now you can put the bird in your huge Dutch oven of whatever big pot you have that is big enough. Add the onion with a few cloves stuck into it, a bay leaf, a branch of thyme, some peppercorns and some coarse salt. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil slowly.
Peel four carrots, four turnips, half of the celery root and two trimmed leeks, which should be bundled together with some thread, parsnips if you have any. When the pot has boiled, scoop off any scum that has formed and add the vegetables.
Simmer for three hours or more!
Traditionally, a bowl of broth should be served before serving the hen and vegetables, but that’s up to you.
Assuming anything is left the next day, it is recommended to cook rice in the remaining broth and serve it with some deboned extra chicken and vegetables.
The hen should still contain its liver and gizzard, and besides that, you will also be needing some winter vegetables: turnip, carrot, celery root, leek, parsnip, potato, onion, shallot. It is also advised to have a piece of pork belly on hand, as it can be ground into a glorious stuffing to put inside the hen with a few other things.
The first thing to do is to soak a piece of stale bread in some milk (getting more complicated all the time, isn’t it?). Chop up the liver and gizzard and chop and add any other leftover meat that might be on hand: bacon, roast, steak… Chop 4 shallots and mix them with the other chopped items as well of the bread, from which you have squeezed out most of the milk. Oh yes, and throw in a raw egg.
Use salt and pepper and whatever spices you find suitable: herbes de Provence, parsley, chives, paprika…
Stuff the hen with this mixture and sew her back up. You do not need a medical degree to do this, and she will feel no pain. You do not want the stuffing to come tumbling out into the broth.
Now you can put the bird in your huge Dutch oven of whatever big pot you have that is big enough. Add the onion with a few cloves stuck into it, a bay leaf, a branch of thyme, some peppercorns and some coarse salt. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil slowly.
Peel four carrots, four turnips, half of the celery root and two trimmed leeks, which should be bundled together with some thread, parsnips if you have any. When the pot has boiled, scoop off any scum that has formed and add the vegetables.
Simmer for three hours or more!
Traditionally, a bowl of broth should be served before serving the hen and vegetables, but that’s up to you.
Assuming anything is left the next day, it is recommended to cook rice in the remaining broth and serve it with some deboned extra chicken and vegetables.
