Canard / Poulet à la Duchambais

DUCK OR CHICKEN LEGS IN A TART CREAM SAUCE

Video of recipe

Not a well known dish, yet utterly authentic and delicious. A speciality of the Bourbonais region in the centre of France. The sauce known as “Duchambais” has traditionally accompanied just about any meat. Perhaps the best known versions are those with hare and duck. Recipes vary from home to home in the Bourbonais. Here is a standard (and superb) preparation.

(For 2 people)

2 duck or chicken legs
a tablespoon of duck fat or lard
3 shallots (or an onion), very finely chopped
a clove of garlic
a tablespoon of flower
a large glass of red wine
a small glass of brown stock (or chicken stock), if available – if not, just wine is fine
a bouquet garni
2 chicken livers, or an equal amount of pork or duck livers
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of French mustard. (the local Charroux mustard would be ideal)
3 tablespoons of brandy or marc de pays
75 ml cream or crème fraiche
salt and pepper

Brown the duck or chicken legs in the fat. Remove and reserve them. If there is room in the pan, brown the livers along with the legs, but remove them when they are still a little pink within. In the same fat, gently sweat the shallots until they are extremely soft. Add the flower and stir around for a minute over medium heat. Pour in the wine and stir to blend in the flower. Add the stock and the bouquet and cover. Simmer very gently on the stove top for forty minutes.

Meanwhile, if not already done, brown the liver quickly in lard, butter or duck fat. Blend to a smooth paste along with the vinegar, mustard and brandy. After the forty minutes of cooking time, stir this into the sauce, cover again and cook for another ten minutes. Add the cream, bring back to a simmer. Season and serve.

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Poulet en Saucisse

CHICKEN SAUSAGE

(for 4 people)

1 chicken, 1½ kg
1 bag of spinach
100 g mushrooms, sliced
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
For the chicken jus
see recipe for Jus de Viande in the Sauces section

To bone out the chicken: Cut the wings off at the first joint away from the body. Remove the wish-bone by slicing along its contours to get it loose and then pull it out. Make sure the neck is cut off close to the body. Remove any fat from the cavity. Place the chicken on its breast and make a slice all the way along the backbone down to the bone. Keeping the chicken on its breast and the neck end away from you cut through the shoulder joints with the knife angled so that it lies flat against the carcass. Once the joint has been cut through, stop using the knife. Grab the whole wing and breast on one side with one hand and, grabbing the carcass by putting the thumb through it on the same side, pull the breast and wing away from the carcass until the “oyster” (the plump piece of meat above the hip joint) is exposed. Repeat the same operation on the other side. Put two fingers on each side of the sternum (leaving the two fillets attached to the carcass) and pull down so the whole front of the carcass is pulled away and clean. Now, grab the chicken by the leg and with the point of the knife, cut around the oyster to separate it from the carcass. Crack the knee joint open by twisting the leg away from the carcass. Cut through the sinew and pull the leg out. Repeat on the other side. Remove the carcass. Now remove the leg bones by slicing around the large end joint and then scraping all the meat down to the next joint. Slice all the way around this joint too and keep scraping down to the end. Crack the bone here with the back of the knife and remove the bone but leaving the very end piece in place. Remove the wing bone in the same way, but don’t leave the piece in the end. Remove the fillets from the carcass by running your thumb under them. Lay the chicken meat out flat with the skin side down. Place the fillets on the bottom end around the legs where there appears to be less meat. Season the meat.

Sauté the mushrooms in a little butter and oil. Tip in the bag of spinach and stir it around so it all wilts. Season the mixture and press out any excess waters. Cover the chicken with this mixture, pushing some of it up into the legs. Fold each side over to “reconstruct” the bird. Flip it over and tie the legs together and the rest of the “sausage” with twine. Lightly coat with oil and roast in a hot oven for an hour.

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Magret de Canard, Sauce Bigarade

DUCK BREAST WITH ORANGE SAUCE

(for 2 people)

2 duck breasts (magrets)
500 ml  veal stock (or better still, duck jus) 
2 oranges
100 ml sugar
100 ml vinaigre
15 ml orange liqueur or Cognac
15 g butter

Add the juice of the oranges to the stock and reduce over a high heat until it approaches sauce consistency.

As the  sauce cooks, prepare the gastric. Heat 125 g  granulated sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. When the sugar has melted and turned pale brown, pour 125 ml of wine vinegar into the pan to dissolve the caramel and stop the cooking. Heat and make sure the caramel is completely dissolved. This is more gastric than we will need but is hard to prepare in smaller amounts.

Pour the gastric, a few drops at a time, into the sauce. Taste as you go as too much will spoil the sauce. 3 or 4 teaspoons should suffice. Finish the sauce with a few drops of cognac and set aside.

Make criss-cross cuts in the skin and fat of the magret, being careful not to cut into the meat. Place in a  cold pan (no fat required) and place over a very, very low heat to render the fat and crispen the skin. Pour off the melted fat as you go. Turn the magret to finish it off over a high heat for one to three minutes depending on the degree of doneness required. Let the magret rest for at least ten minutes. If required, heat it up again in the oven at 120 degrees centigrade. The magret is sliced skin-side down, and plated skin-side up. The slices are thick so to keep the warmth in. Once sliced, the magret should be allowed to rest for another minute so that all the juices that run out can be collected and stirred into the sauce. Otherwise these juices will run into the sauce on the plate in an unattractive way

Simmer the sauce for a couple of minutes then swirl in the butter. Spoon it over the sliced magrets.

 

 

 

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Poulet Basquaise

(for 2 people)

2 chicken legs, thighs and drumsticks
flour
1 onion, finely sliced
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and sliced
3 tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped (canned will also be fine)
a bay leaf
herbs such as thyme, a bouquet garni or ‘herbes de provence’ 
salt and pepper

Cut the legs to separate thighs from drumsticks. Lightly flower the pieces. If attached, cut away the piece of backbone too.
Fry the pieces (including the backbone) in olive oil until golden on both sides. Remove the pieces from the pan and set them aside. Add the onion, peppers and garlic to the hot oil. Cook steadily until soft. Add the tomatoes and the herbs, cover the pan and cook for a further 15-20 minutes. Return the chicken pieces, cover and finish cooking for another 15 minutes.

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Coq au Vin

(for 2 people)

2 chicken legs, cut in two
butter and oil
125 g salted pork belly cut into lardons
12 pearl onions, or a large onion thickly sliced
12 button mushrooms, sliced or quartered
half a bottle of red wine
a glass of brown stock, or, better still, a stock or jus made from the chicken carcass and trimmings
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 glass of marc or brandy
1 tablespoon flour
1 garlic clove
1 bouquet garni
salt and pepper 

Brown the chicken pieces on both sides in oil and butter and set them aside. Sauté the bacon gently in the same fat until very lightly browned but certainly not crispy. Remove it and over a higher heat start to brown the onions. As they take on a little colour, add the mushrooms and cook all this until the mushrooms have considerably reduced in size and everything is golden, adding some more oil if the pan gets dry. Return the lardons to the pan and sauté everything for another minute. Sprinkle the mixture with a tablespoon of flour and stir around for a few moments to cook the flour. Return the chicken to the pan and flamber with the brandy. Pour in the wine and enough stock to just cover the chicken. Add the sugar and a generous bouquet garni. Simmer for an hour to an hour and a half.

 

Season and sauté the chicken liver in a little butter. Brown it quickly over high heat taking care to leave the  inside still a little pink. Blend it with a generous splash of brandy and enough wine or cooking liquid to make a smooth purée. Gently stir this into the simmering sauce and cook for another few minutes.

 

 

 

 

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Blanquette de Lapin à l’Ancienne

WHITE  RABBIT  STEW WITH ONIONS AND MUSHROOMS

A Blanquette is a stew which is finished with cream and gets its name from its white colour. The most famous version is made with veal but lamb, pork, rabbit and chicken are also common. The meat is poached in water or stock which is then thickened with a roux, making a velouté and finished with cream. The blanquette is garnished with pearl onions and mushrooms, and usually served with rice or potatoes.

For a veal or lamb blanquette, a suitable stewing cut such as shoulder or leg should be used. The recipes are precisely the same as for rabbit, only cooking times will be longer than for rabbit and chicken: The meat is ready when pressed with a finger it gradually reforms rather than springing back into shape.

(For 4 people)

1 rabbit, cut into 12 serving pieces
1 litre of chicken broth
Aromatic ingredients for poaching the rabbit
1 onion, quartered
1 carrot, halved
½ leek
1 branch of celery
1 bouquet garni
2 cloves
a  few peppercorns
Garniture
16 pearl onions (four per person)
15 g butter
a pinch of sugar
16 button mushrooms
15 g butter
lemon
For finishing the sauce
30g butter
30g flour
100 ml white wine
100 ml cream
1or 2 egg yolks
lemon juice
nutmeg
chopped parsley 

Poaching the rabbit.
Put the pieces of rabbit and all the aromatic ingredients in a pot and just cover with the broth or cold water. Bring to a simmer, skimming off any fat and scum that comes to the surface. Keep at a very gentle simmer for an hour.

Preparing the garnish
.
Peel the pearl onions by blanching them them in boiling water for a couple of minutes and cooling in iced water. 
Prepare the onions glacer a blanc with the butter, sugar, salt and water. The water should not completely cover the onions. By the end of cooking there will be no water left but the onions should not be left to caramelise. Reserve
. Wash and halve the mushrooms, cook gently in butter, a little lemon juice and a splash of water.

Preparing the sauce.
When the rabbit is cooked, pour everything into a colander and save the poaching liquid. Remove all the aromatic ingredients. Add half a cup of white wine to the poaching liquid and reduce by ⅓.
  Prepare a white roux by melting the butter in a pan, adding the flour and stirring round over a medium heat for a minute or two. Add the poaching liquid to the roux, slowly at first, whisking to ensure that the mixture is smooth after each addition. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Finishing the sauce
.
Add the cream to the velouté, bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add all the reserved ingredients to the sauce and bring to a simmer to heat through. Remove from the heat.
Temper the egg yolks by removing a ladle of sauce from the pot and mixing it with the yolks. Pour the mixture back into the pot and shake the pan over a medium flame until the sauce thickens. Do not let the sauce boil.

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Poulet Chasseur

HUNTER CHICKEN

(for 4 people)

1 chicken, 1½ kg

1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil for browning

Enriched stock 

carcass and trimmings of the chicken, chopped into small pieces

1 carrot, chopped

1 onion, chopped

500 ml thick brown stock

a bouquet garni

For the sauce

2 shallots (or a small onion), chopped fine

20 mushrooms, sliced

50 ml brandy

150 ml dry white wine

1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and cut into small dice (concassé)

a bouquet-garni

1 tablespoon butter

chopped tarragon (if available)and parsley

 

Cut the chicken into 8 serving pieces. Chop the carcass and trimmings into small (1 cm) pieces, brown them in the oil then add the carrot and onion. Cook steadily until the vegetables are soft. Throw out the excess fat and moisten and deglaze with the stock. Add a bouquet garni. Cook at a low simmer for 45 minutes, then strain and degrease.  (A meat jus may also be prepared. See Jus de Viande in the Sauces section)

Season the pieces of chicken and sauté them in a little butter and oil until golden on the skin side. Turn them over, cover the pan and cook very gently over low heat until done. Remove the pieces

In the same pan, sauté the shallots and the mushrooms together for a few minutes over medium heat until well cooked, almost completely dry and starting to colour. Drain off any surplus fat. Deglaze the pan with the brandy, igniting it if you wish, followed by the wine. Reduce by half. Add the stock and the tomato concassé  and allow the sauce to reduce until it has a good consistency. If necessary, reheat the chicken pieces in the pan with the sauce and remove. At this point, swirl in a knob of butter, and add the chopped parsley and tarragon. Spoon the sauce over the chicken pieces and serve with boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes or noodles.

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King Henry’s chicken in the pot

POULE-AU-POT HENRI IV

1 chicken, 2 kg

Court-bouillon

a veal knuckle

any trimmings from the chicken

a few black peppercorns

2 carrots

2 leeks

2 turnips

1 onion

1 piece of celery

1 bouquet garni

To make the bouillon, combine the gizzard, heart, wing-tips, neck and feet of the chicken with the veal knuckle, vegetables and bouquet – The broth should be full-flavoured, so the more trimmings, the better Add three litres of water and bring to the boil. Skim, lower heat and simmer for a couple of hours.

Stuffing

the liver from the chicken

200 g  salted pork belly

2 slices of cured ham

200 g lean pork

200 g bread crumbs

100 ml milk

2 cloves of garlic

2 eggs

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

salt and pepper

To make the stuffing, mince the liver and meats. Moisten the breadcrumbs with milk; combine with the meats and rest of ingredients. Stuff the chicken and truss, making sure the opening is well sewed up. Remove the vegetables and add the chicken to the broth. Poach  for an hour, or until tender.

Vegetables

carrots

turnips

leeks

potatoes

cabbage

green beans

The left over stuffing can be wrapped in cabbage leaves and poached separately in a  little of the bouillon. The cabbage leaves are blanched in boiling water for about 30 secongs and placed on a damp cloth.  Balls of stuffing are placed on two or three leaves and  twisted and squeezed into a tight ball.

The vegetables from the bouillon which are rather sodden and tasteless should be discarded.  Fresh ones, including potatoes, should be added to the pot 20 minutes or so before serving.

To serve: the hot broth is served first, followed by the freshly poached vegetables.

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Duck à l’orange

CANARD A LA BIGARADE

The  name “bigarade” comes from the bitter oranges that were originally used to flavour duck à l’orange. There are a few steps to this recipe and may seem like a bit of a performance. However, much trouble is saved by preparing the sauce in advance.

For 4 people

1 duck (1.5 kg)

½ L brown stock or chicken stock.

3 oranges

1 lemon

1 onion

1 small carrot

1 branch of celery

1 bouquet garni ; bay, thyme and parsley

80 g sugar

120 ml wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of Cognac, Armagnac or orange liqueur.

To make the sauce, cut off the wings, leaving the first joint attached to the body. Remove the neck and chop all this into smallish  pieces. Sauté these trimmings in olive oil and when they begin to colour, throw in the chopped carrot, onion and celery. When everything is nicely coloured, deglaze with the stock, add the bouquet garni and allow to simmer for an hour or so. Strain and degrease. Add the juice of two oranges and reduce over a high heat until it approaches sauce consistency. If the sauce lacks body, add some meat glaze or thick brown stock.

As the  sauce cooks, prepare the gastric. Heat 125 g  granulated sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. When the sugar has melted and turned pale brown, pour 125 ml of wine vinegar into the pan to dissolve the caramel and stop the cooking. Heat and make sure the caramel is completely dissolved. This is more gastric than we will need but is hard to prepare in smaller amounts. Pour a few drops at a time into the sauce, tasting as you go as too much will spoil the sauce. 3 or 4 teaspoons should suffice.

Sprinkle the bird, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Fill the cavity with 1/2 onion and 1/2 lemon. Truss and rub all over with olive oil. Prick the skin all over with a pointed implement. Roast at maximum oven temperature for the first 30 minutes to achieve a crisp, golden skin. Lower the heat to 160°C and roast for a further 30 minutes.

While the bird roasts, prepare the orange garnish. With a vegetable peeler, remove the outer zest of one of the oranges. Cut the strips into a very fine julienne and blanch for five minutes in simmering water. Drain and soak in the liqueur. Section the peeled orange and add any juice to the sauce.

When the duck is ready, caremelize the sucs on the bottom of the pan and pour off any fat. Deglaze with the reserved sauce and simmer for a few minutes. Pour in a little gastric, a few drops at a time, tasting as you go as too much will spoil the sauce. 3 or 4 teaspoons should suffice. Add the zest and liqueur and check the seasoning. Place the duck on a serving platter and por the sauce around. Garnish with orange sections and vegetables.

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Rabbit à la Catalane

LAPIN A  LA CATALANE

The term “á la Catalane” refers to certain dishes or garnishes from the areas close to the  boarder with Cataluña where the cookery has a distinct Spanish influence. Olive oil, onions, garlic, peppers and tomatoes are often used to make a base to which the primary ingredient is added.

For 4 people

1 rabbit, 1.5 kg

olive oil

250 g salted belly pork, large dice

2 onions

3 peppers, green and/or red.

3 cloves of garlic

4 tomatoes

1 bouquet garni: bay, thyme, rosemary

150 ml dry white wine

150 ml light chicken stock

Cut the rabbit into 10 or 12 serving pieces and sauté them in the oil, with the diced pork, until golden. Remove the rabbit and add the finely sliced onion and peppers. When the mixture is soft and beginning to caramelize add the peeled and chopped tomatoes and garlic. Cook this down for 10 minutes then add the wine, the stock and the herbs. Return the pieces of rabbit and cover the pan if possible. Cook this gently for 40 minutes. Arrange the rabbit pieces on a platter and if the sauce is on the thin side, reduce it quickly over high heat. Spoon it over the meat and serve.

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