Poulet bonne femme
There are many versions of this, some using a whole chicken, others using pieces. Some have only bacon and shallots, others include mushrooms as well. The key thing is that it’s light and uses white wine. I much prefer it to coq au vin made with red wine. I’ve always loved the name – ‘housewife’s chicken’ – and I’ve been cooking it since I was a teenager, when I came across a version in my mum’s old Cordon Bleu part work. It seemed to be the kind of French dish that, with just a little care, I could pull off.
Ingrediënten
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 125 g 4½oz bacon lardons (quite chunky bits)
- 35 g 1¼oz unsalted butter
- 1 chicken skin-on, jointed into 8
- 16 shallots peeled
- 275 g 9¾oz really small waxy potatoes (ideally peeled, but don’t worry if you’re in a hurry)
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- 200 ml 7fl oz white wine
- 150 ml 5fl oz chicken stock
- 1 bouquet garni
- salt and pepper
- 125 g 4½oz small button mushrooms
- 1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
Instructies
- Heat half the oil in a casserole and sauté the bacon over a medium heat until it is golden all over.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add half the butter to the pan and brown the chicken on both sides.
- Don’t let the fat burn as you are doing this.
- Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Pour off almost all the fat from the casserole, leaving about 1 tbsp behind.
- Put the shallots into a saucepan of boiling water, reduce the heat and simmer for four minutes.
- Drain and pat dry, then put them into the casserole with the potatoes and sauté these in the fat until pale gold.
- Add the garlic and continue to sauté for two minutes.
- Pour the wine into the pan and bring to the boil, then immediately reduce the heat and return the chicken and bacon, together with any of the juices that have run out of them.
- Pour in the stock, add the bouquet garni and season.
- Bring it all to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
- Cook for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and cooked through (when you pierce the flesh nearest the bone with the tip of a sharp knife the juices that run from the chicken should be clear, with no trace of pink).
- The potatoes should be completely tender, too.
- Meanwhile, melt the rest of the butter and oil in a frying pan and sauté the mushrooms briskly so they get a really good colour.
- Allow their juices to evaporate.
- Season.
- Add them to the chicken about 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Check for seasoning, scatter on the parsley and serve immediately.
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