Poulet au vinaigre
An old-fashioned classic, this is a lovely main course for a French bistro-style meal. Just make sure – since this requires some last-minute attention – that you have an easy starter and pudding to go either side of it. In fact one of those ‘eat-while-you-stand-around’ starters (offer saucisson, croûtes with pâté, hard-boiled quail’s eggs and tapenade, that kind of thing) is a good idea, so you cook the chicken while you all graze.
Ingrediënten
- 30 g 1oz unsalted butter, plus 50g (1¾oz) more cold butter, cut into little cubes
- 12 skin-on bone-in chicken joints
- 3 shallots finely chopped
- 6 large garlic cloves unpeeled
- 6 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 325 ml 11fl oz dry white wine
- 150 ml 5fl oz chicken stock
- 3 tbsp brandy
- 3 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1½ tsp tomato purée
- 100 ml 3½fl oz double cream
- 3 large plum tomatoes skinned and deseeded, flesh cut into strips
Instructies
- Melt the 30g (1oz) of butter in a sauté pan and brown the chicken on both sides, skin side first.
- Add the shallots, the garlic and 2 tbsp of water to the pan and cover.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook gently for 30–40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through but tender.
- Take the chicken out but keep it warm (in a low oven, covered).
- Pour all the fat out of the pan, but don’t wash it.
- Add the vinegar to the pan, stirring well to dislodge all the sediment that is stuck.
- Boil quickly until you have about 2 tbsp of liquid left, then stir in the wine, stock, brandy, mustard and tomato purée and mix well.
- Boil this mixture until you have a sauce consistency.
- Press through a sieve into a clean saucepan, pushing the garlic cloves through as well.
- Add the cream and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and add the tomatoes.
- Gently heat through, then take the pan off the heat and gradually whisk in the 50g (1¾oz) of cold butter cubes.
- The sauce should be glossy.
- Taste it for tartness; it should be slightly tart but smooth and rounded.
- Check for seasoning, too.
- Pour it over the warm chicken and serve immediately.
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