Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (114 page)

Poulet en Bourride

[
Bouillabaisse
of Chicken with
Aïoli
Sauce]

What the Belgians do to chicken in their
waterzooi
, their rivals on the Mediterranean accomplish in a most Provençal manner. In fact, the two recipes are almost exact parallels—egg yolks and cream thicken the broth of the
waterzooi
, while it is egg yolks and olive oil for the
bourride.
This is a very rich and splendid dish; we would suggest only boiled potatoes to go with it, a very simple beginning to the meal, such as asparagus vinaigrette, and a sherbet or fruits for dessert. A strong, dry white wine like Burgundy or Côtes-du-Rhône would be our suggestion for wine.

Poach the chicken exactly as described for the
bouillabaisse
of chicken,
here
, Steps 1 and 2; skim off surface fat, and keep chicken warm. While it simmers, prepare the
aïoli
as follows.

The aïoli sauce

⅓ cup (lightly pressed) fresh crumbs from nonsweetened, homemade-type white bread

Wine vinegar

A heavy bowl or mortar, a pestle or wooden masher, and wire whip

6 to 8 large cloves garlic, mashed

½ tsp salt

6 egg yolks

¾ to 1 cup olive oil

Following the procedure for
aïoli
sauce in Volume I, page 92, moisten the crumbs with drops of vinegar and pound to a paste in the bowl or mortar. Add garlic and salt, and continue pounding until smooth. Then add egg yolks and pound until thick and sticky. Finally begin beating in drops of olive oil; when sauce is thick and heavy, thin with vinegar, and continue beating in oil with wire whip. Season to taste, and cover airtight until ready to use.

Combining chicken and aïoli

A ladle

Optional: a warm soup tureen

Wide soup plates

Rather roughly chopped fresh parsley

When chicken is done and just before you are ready to serve, remove from heat. Gradually ladle driblets of the hot chicken-cooking liquid into the
aïoli
sauce,
beating sauce with wire whip; when a cup of liquid has gone in, pour mixture back into chicken and vegetables, swirling casserole with one hand as you do so, to blend.

Set casserole over moderate heat and continue to swirl it slowly for 4 to 5 minutes, until sauce thickens into a light cream; be careful not to heat sauce to the simmer or it will turn granular as the egg yolks scramble, but you must heat it to the point where it thickens. Serve immediately, either from casserole or turned into a tureen; decorate with parsley.

Like
waterzooi
, the chicken and the souplike sauce are ladled into soup plates, along with a serving of potatoes, and eaten with knife, fork, and soup spoon.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: See remarks for
waterzooi
.

WHOLE CHICKEN

CASSEROLE-POACHED CHICKEN
Poularde Pochée à Court Mouillement

Roasting and stewing are not the only ways to cook a whole chicken; there are also casserole roasting, which produces the savory brown
poulet poêlé à l’estragon
and its variations in Volume I, pages 249–53, and casserole poaching, for those times when you wish to serve a whole chicken with one of the many white-wine sauces. This is called
pocher à court mouillement
because the chicken is set in a casserole that will just hold it, and the poaching liquid comes only part way up—the dark meat of the legs and thighs simmers and the white meat of the breast steams. This gives you not only a beautifully tender and juicy chicken, but also a perfectly flavored white-wine chicken broth for a sauce, or, if you are serving the chicken cold, for your aspic or
chaud-froid.
You may cook the chicken with or without stuffing, and serve it any number of ways. We begin with chicken in a white-wine and tarragon sauce.

THE CHICKEN TO BUY—PREPARING IT FOR POACHING

Roasting chickens and capons are best for casserole poaching because their flesh is mature enough to hold up under the steam and moisture; however, if you are careful to maintain a slow and gentle simmer, you may use a large fryer, 3½ pounds ready-to-cook. Broilers are far too immature; their tender flesh falls apart in the casserole.

To prepare the chicken for cooking, first remove the package of giblets
from inside the cavity. The giblets should include the liver, heart, gizzard, and neck. If you are not stuffing the chicken, you may season the liver and return it to the cavity to cook and serve with the chicken, or save it for another purpose. Reserve the rest of the giblets for the casserole; they will give added flavor to the broth.

Pull loose fat from around inside of vent opening; you may
render it
, and use for general cooking or for rubbing over the chicken instead of butter. Cut off nubbins attached to wing elbows and, to make carving easier, remove the wishbone by cutting around its forked outline from inside the neck end of the chicken, then break its two ends loose from bottom of breast and pull it free. Run cold water all around inside and outside of chicken, and dry thoroughly with paper towels. (We were not enthusiastic about washing chickens in Volume I; we now think it is a wise precaution.) After you have inserted whatever flavoring or stuffing is called for, truss the chicken as illustrated in Volume I, pages 237–9 (or in less detail
here
).

  
POULARDE POCHÉE À L’ESTRAGON

[
Casserole-poached Chicken with White-wine and Tarragon Sauce]

A fine roasting chicken is a
poularde
in French, and capon is
chapon;
either one is recommended for this delicious recipe. Rather than a stuffing, we have suggested an herbal flavoring inside the chicken, which is typical of many French recipes; if you do wish a stuffing, see the variations at the end of the recipe as well as the
list of stuffings
.

Nothing that accompanies the chicken should mask the lovely flavor of the tarragon, and with this in mind, we would suggest steamed rice and the garniture of mushrooms and onions used for chicken fricassee (Volume I, page 260); or either the unusual rice and onion
soubise
in Volume I on page 485 or the
stuffed onions
, with buttered peas or asparagus tips. This is definitely an occasion for one of the great white Burgundy wines.

For 5 to 6 people

1)
Preparations for poaching

½ cup each of sliced carrots and sliced onions