Poulet aux Julia Child

Julia Child has been getting a lot of notice these days and for good reason. By all accounts she was an incredible inspiration to cooking in America. I read her autobiography, My Life in France, about two years ago and was completely mezmorized by her journey - falling in love with a city, a country and a cuisine and allowing to to shape her destiny - meanwhile being a wonderful wife, loving friend and eventually a master of the craft I so dearly love as well.

I immediately bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking, her first and most famous cookbook and began to read it, filled with grand dreams of cooking from it regularly. But then I realized something. Most of her recipes just didn't appeal to me. I wasn't drawn to them at all. Aspics, meats in gravies and buttery creamy sauces, and cold desserts using gelatin galore. I am sad to say I was very put off and this epic piece of cookbookery (as she often called it) was placed on the shelf and left there to age.

Then, I received my August 2009 Bon Apetit magazine. Julia's birthday is on August 15th (or would have been - she passed away in 2004) and they had suggested a birthday dinner party in her honor, using recipes from Mastering. Each of the recipes looked delicious and I decided I needed to finally give her a chance. So, last week, I did. Let me just say that her Poulet saute aux herbes de provence (chicken with Provencal herbs) was so wonderful, so herbaceous, rich, and tangy that every drop of the sauce had to be sopped off the plate. If you are looking for an inexpensive and totally palette pleasing, soul satisfying dish to entertain friends or delight your family, look NO further. It seemed so simple, yet the result was far more than the sum of the parts. I adapted it only slightly. I note my adaptations in line. Oh, and I mean it, you must serve warm bread with this, unless you'd prefer to lick the serving platter.

Poulet Saute aux herbes de provence
from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Julie - my adaptations listed like this in line)

Chicken:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 3 1/2 - 4 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, rinsed, patted dry
1 teaspoon dried thyme or savory (Julie - I used 3 tsps fresh thyme)
1 teaspoon dried basil (Julie - I ommitted this, I really don't like dried basil)
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground in spice mill/morter&pestle (Julie - I used 3/4 tsp)
3 unpeeled garlic cloves
2/3 cup dry white wine or 1/2 cup dry white vermouth


Sauce: (Julie - oh this sauce is amazing! You MUST use the fresh fennel fronds.)

2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon dry white wine or dry white vermouth
2 to 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 1-inch cubes (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, fresh fennel fronds, or fresh parsley (Julie - I used 2 tbls chopped fresh basil and 2 tbls chopped fresh fennel fronds)

METHOD

For chicken:
Melt butter in large wide pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, if necessary, add chicken pieces and cook only until golden (Julie - I recommend you cook them for the most part skin side down, thus rendering the skin fat and making it crispy), turning occasionally, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken breast pieces to plate. Sprinkle remaining chicken pieces in pot with half each of thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper. Add garlic to pot. Cover pot; reduce heat to medium and cook 8 to 9 minutes. Sprinkle chicken breasts with remaining thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper. Return breast pieces to pot; baste chicken with butter in pot. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through, turning and basting occasionally, about 15 minutes. Transfer to hot platter; cover.

Remove peel from garlic cloves; mash garlic with spoon or fork in same pot (Julie - I used my garlic press). Add 2/3 cup wine to juices in pot; boil until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup, occasionally scraping bottom of pan, about 8 minutes. Pour reduced pan juices into measuring cup and reserve for sauce.

For sauce:
Off heat, whisk egg yolks in heavy small saucepan until beginning to thicken. Whisk in lemon juice and 1 tablespoon wine. Gradually whisk reserved pan juices into eggs, 1 teaspoon at a time. Set sauce over very low heat and whisk constantly until warm and slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. If desired, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. (Julie - I used 2 tbls butter here) Remove from heat. Stir in herbs, if desired. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.