Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (113 page)

Set casserole over moderate heat and continue to swirl it slowly for 4 to 5 minutes, until sauce thickens into a light cream as the egg yolks gradually poach in the mixture; you must be very careful here not to heat the sauce too much 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.

The chicken and sauce, which is more like a cream soup, are ladled into soup plates, along with a serving of potatoes, and eaten with knife, fork, and soup spoon.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: Although you may make the egg yolk and cream liaison, pour it over the chicken, and reheat later, it is safer to keep the poached chicken warm, and finish the dish just before serving. Finished
waterzooi
risks
curdling if you try to keep it warm; in other words, this is not a dish adaptable to complete ahead-of-time cookery.

Bouillabaisse de Poulet

[Chicken Poached in White Wine with Provençal Vegetables, Herbs, and Flavorings]

Famous and successful recipes have a way of turning up in other guises, chicken has a habit of wearing other costumes, and there should be nothing surprising about chicken swimming in the robust flavors of a
bouillabaisse.
Although the method here is almost the same as that for the previous poachings, the ingredients differ; we therefore outline all the steps. Serve this with steamed rice or boiled potatoes, French bread, and a strong young white wine like a Riesling or Pinot Blanc, a rather light red like Beaujolais or Mountain Red, or a rosé.

For 4 people

1)
Preliminary cooking of vegetables

½ cup sliced onions

½ cup sliced white of leek (or more onion)

¼ cup olive oil

A heavy 3-quart flameproof casserole with cover

Cook the onions and leeks slowly with the oil in the covered casserole for about 10 minutes, stirring fairly frequently, until tender but not browned.

About 1½ cups tomato pulp (4 or 5 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and juiced, or a combination of fresh tomatoes and canned Italian-type plum tomatoes, drained and sieved)

2 cloves garlic, minced or mashed

While vegetables are cooking, prepare the tomatoes; when vegetables are tender, stir tomatoes in along with the garlic. Cover, and cook 5 minutes so that tomatoes will render their juices; then uncover, raise heat, and let juices almost entirely evaporate.

2)
Poaching the chicken

2½ lbs.
ready-cut chicken
, prepared as described

Salt

When tomatoes are done, salt chicken lightly, and arrange in casserole, spreading vegetables around and on top. Cover and cook 10 minutes over moderate heat, turning once.

1½ cups dry white wine or 1 cup dry white French vermouth

About 2 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth

1 bay leaf

½ tsp thyme

¼ tsp fennel seeds, crushed

2 pinches saffron threads

A 2-inch piece of dried orange peel, or ½ tsp bottled dried orange peel

Big pinch pepper

Pinch Cayenne pepper or drops Tabasco sauce

Salt as needed

Pour the wine or vermouth over the chicken, and enough stock or broth barely to cover the meat. Add the herbs and seasonings, bring to the simmer, and salt lightly as necessary. Cover casserole and simmer slowly either on top of the stove or in a preheated 325-degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is tender.

3) Serving

Tip casserole and skim off surface fat; remove bay leaf and orange peel, and carefully correct seasoning. Serve as is, from casserole, or arrange chicken and vegetables on a bed of steamed rice, decorate with parsley sprigs, and pass rest of cooking liquid separately.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: May be kept warm for at least half an hour; set cover askew for air circulation and place in a 120-degree oven, on a hot-tray, or over barely simmering water. Do not overheat and let chicken overcook.

To serve cold or in aspic

This is delicious as a cold dish. When chicken is done, skim off surface fat, remove bay leaf and orange peel, and correct seasoning. When cool, cover and refrigerate for several hours. Scrape off congealed fat and serve the chicken as is; cooking stock will set lightly, like jellied consommé. (If you want a firmer jellied effect, strain cooking stock out of casserole when chicken is done, degrease completely, and dissolve in it 1 package [1 tablespoon] of gelatin for each 2 cups of liquid; pour back over the chicken and vegetables, and chill.)

VARIATIONS

Final touches—Rouille and Pistou

You might pass a
rouille
with the chicken—the garlic, pimento, and chili-pepper sauce given at the end of the
bouillabaisse
recipe in Volume I, page 52. Another
excellent sauce would be the
pistou
, a fragrant combination of basil, tomato, garlic, and cheese that may either be incorporated into the cooking liquid just before serving, or be passed separately. Finally there is the marvelous garlic mayonnaise,
aïoli
, in the next variation.