Poulet en Cocotte Bonne Femme

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2000px-Picardie_in_France.svgThis simple French country dish hails from the Picardy region of France. Picardy is a French region stretching north from the suburbs of Paris and vineyards of Champagne to the beaches of the Bay of Somme on the English Channel. Regional capital Amiens is a university city known for its Gothic cathedral, the floating gardens on its canals and Jules Verne’s former home, which is now a museum.

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The Picardy region definitely knows how to take the most of its landscapes; offering a hearty, varied food thanks to local crops. Markets in Picardy are really popular and attract the foodies from Paris who look for gourmet products like the pâté de canard (pâté en croute) from Amiens or the Flamiche leek pie. The delicious gâteau battu or the famous “chantilly” whipped cream is from the town of Chantilly.

Poulet en Cocotte Bonne Femme is loosely translated as Good Woman Chicken Casserole .It is basically  a casserole that features roasted chicken with bacon, onions,  and potatoes. Occasionally, mushroom and carrots can be added as a variation. This recipe is also suitable for either a whole chicken or chicken portions, but I opted to use Cornish Hens. For a special occasion, a dry white wine can be substituted for the chicken stock, or half wine, half stock could be used. Traditionally, this dish is served with Petits Pois a la Francaise.

This recipe is perfect for a Sunday dinner with the family.

Enjoy !

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
1/2 pound bacon
4 Tablespoons butter
Three  1 ¼-pound Cornish Hens
15 to 25 peeled white pearl onions
1 to 1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes
1/2 pound button mushrooms, sliced
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 to  4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup chicken stock
1 bouquet garni (made with 4 parsley sprigs, 1/2 bay leaf, and 1/4 teaspoon thyme tied in washed cheesecloth)

 

Directions: 
Preheat an oven to 400 º F.

In a oven-proof casserole, saute the bacon for 2 to 3 minutes until browned. Transfer to a dish and set aside.

Add the mushrooms to the same casserole and saute the mushrooms for 2 to 3 minutes in 1 tablespoon of the butter until lightly browned. Transfer to a dish and set aside.

Rub olive oil on the outside of the hens and season with salt and pepper.Place the hens in a roasting pan and cover with foil and roast for 30 to 35 minutes.Remove the hens from the oven and pour the fat out of the pan into a measuring cup and set aside.

Reduce the oven at 350 º F.

In a separate saucepan add water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil.Drop the onions into boiling, salted water and boil slowly for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Next , peel the potatoes and cut them into uniform ovals about 2 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Drain immediately.

In the casserole, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons butter until foaming. Add the potatoes and roll them around over moderate heat for 2 minutes to evaporate their moisture; this will prevent them for sticking to the bottom of the casserole. Spread potatoes in the pan. Add the hens placing them breast side up in the casserole. Add some of the pan juices and pour in the stock and stir to blend .Add the bacon and onions on top of the potatoes and hens; add the bouquet garni and carrots. Baste all the ingredients with the butter and juices in the casserole, lay a piece of foil over the chicken, and cover the casserole.

Transfer the casserole to the oven and roast for an additional 3o to 35 minutes , basting the hens every and 10 minutes with butter until the juices run clear and the thickest part of the hens legs registers 165 to 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. If using mushrooms, add these 10 minutes before the end of cooking time.Baste once or twice with the juices.

Discard the bouquet garni and adjust the sauce for seasoning.Removed the hens from the casserole, cut into serving portions and arranged on a hot serving platter, surrounded by potatoes and sauteed vegetables

The sauce can either be poured over the chicken and the whole dish sprinkled with parsley, or the hens can be sprinkled with parsley and the sauce served separately on the side.

TODAY.com Parenting Team FC Contributor

Chicken Clemençeau

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This dish is one of the famous chicken creations of New Orleans, along with Chicken Bon Femme , Chicken Pontalba, and Chicken Rochambeau. It’s named for Georges Clemençeau (1841-1929), a French statesman who became the French Premier in 1906. He served as theabout-romania-and-her-people-georges-clemenceau.jpg Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. In favor of a total victory over the German Empire, he militated for the restitution of Alsace-Lorraine to France. He was one of the principal architects of the Treaty of Versailles at the France Peace Conference of 1919. Nicknamed “Père la Victoire” (Father Victory) or “Le Tigre” (The Tiger).

My dish is based on version that was first  served at but Galatoire’s , one of the  grandest and oldest Creole restaurants in  New Orleans. Galatoire’s  was founded in 1905 by Jean Galatoire, and distinguished itself on Bourbon Street from its humble beginnings. From the small village of Pardies, France, Jean Galatoire brought recipes and traditions inspired by the familial dining style of his homeland to create the menu and ambiance of the internationally-renowned restaurant. In its fifth generation, it is the Galatoire family and descendants who have carried the tradition of New Orleans’ fine dining restaurants and influenced its evolution.
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So how did this dish come  about ? Well, Clemençeau is credited with bringing France from the brink of defeat to victory in World War I. In part, he did so by convincing the Allies to unify their efforts through the leadership of a supreme commander, previously unheard of among nations of the day.Equally unheard of was the amalgamation of chicken, fried potatoes, garlic, mushrooms, and canned peas into a single dish, as was achieved at Galatoire’s in the 1920’s to delicious effect. And so the dish was  named  in his honor.

At once glamorous and homey, the nostalgic dish  is still on the menu at many old-line dining rooms in New Orleans, an enduring favorite that deserves to be revisited. Authenticity requires using a young fowl known as a poussin or a spring chicken, but it is fine to substitute a small fryer or even boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

And with that in mind, I made a few variations  to the original recipe. Chicken breast were used here, mainly because it was what I had on hand at the time. Also note that Brabant Potatoes, are usually fried, and in this  recipe, I baked them instead with great time  saving results.The original  recipe also called  for  canned baby peas (petit pois), but  I opted for fresh baby green peas, lightly blanched, because I  like bright  vegetables on my plate.

To complete  this meal, serve this dish with a full-bodied Chardonnay.

Bon Appétit!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 chicken breasts, lightly pounded
2 cups mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 small white onion, chopped
2 scallions, sliced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
Kosher salt, to taste
Black Pepper, to taste
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Yukon Gold  potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 Tablespoons Italian parsley, minced
1 cup fresh petite green peas, blanched

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 400 º F.

Toss the diced potatoes in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season liberally with kosher salt and black pepper. Place on a baking sheet, and into the oven for 35 minutes, occasionally turning them with a spatula for even browning.

When the potatoes are almost golden brown, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter, and 1 tablespoons of the oil in an ovenproof skillet. When the fat is bubbling and hot, add the chicken breasts, which have been seasoned with kosher salt and black pepper, brown quickly on both sides, remove to a plate.

In the same hot pan add the mushrooms, saute until golden brown. Add the onions and garlic, season with a little salt and pepper, saute until the onions are almost tender and have some color. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, cook for 2 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoons  of the parsley.Place the chicken back in the pan and cover with some of the “sauce.” Place in the oven until the chicken is just cooked through.

To serve, divide the Brabant potatoes between two warmed plates, making a pile in the center, place a chicken breast on each.Melt the remaining butter into the sauce, and fold in the peas until just warmed through. Divide the sauce over the two chicken breasts and garnish with the remaining parsley.

TODAY.com Parenting Team FC Contributor