Poularde au Vert-pré

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Snug 5 to 6-quart stockpot with lid
• •Instant-read or probe thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Heavy 2-quart saucepan or saucier
• •Wide saucepan for blanching
• •Large slotted spoon or spider
• •Deep oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Set the poaching pot

   Tuck the wing tips behind the chicken and tie the legs loosely together so the bird cooks evenly without being squeezed into a parcel. Set it breast-side up in a snug 5 to 6-quart pot with the leek, carrot, onion, celery, bouquet garni, peppercorns, salt, and enough cold water to cover it by about 1 inch. A snug pot matters because too much water gives you a thin liquor and a weak sauce. Bring the liquid up slowly over medium heat, skimming away the grey foam as it gathers.

2. 2

   Poach at a tremble

   As soon as small bubbles begin to collect around the edge, lower the heat. Partially cover the pot and hold the liquid between 175 and 185°F (80 and 85°C), with only an occasional bubble breaking the surface. Poach for 45 to 60 minutes, depending on the bird, until the thickest part of the breast reaches 165°F (74°C) and the inner thigh reaches at least 170°F (77°C), without the thermometer touching bone. If the pot breaks into a boil, lift it off the heat and stir in ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) cold water from the measured allowance, then return it over lower heat. Ça se rattrape. A brief boil won't ruin the chicken, but a sustained one tightens the flesh and clouds the liquor.

   The surface should look almost still. Poaching is not boiling by another name; the low temperature keeps the breast tender while the legs finish cooking.
3. 3

   Rest and strain

   Turn off the heat and leave the chicken in its liquor for 10 minutes, then lift it carefully onto a rimmed tray. Tip the bird over the pot to drain the cavity, cover it loosely, and keep it warm. Strain the poaching liquor through a fine-mesh sieve, skim off the surface fat, and measure 3 cups (720 ml / 720 g) into a clean saucepan. Boil this down to 2¼ cups (540 ml / 540 g) so the sauce begins with a real chicken foundation rather than flavored water. Reserve another 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) for the garnish.

4. 4

   Blanch the greens

   Bring a wide saucepan of well-salted water to a full boil and set a bowl of iced water beside it. Cook the French beans first until vivid green and just tender, 3 to 4 minutes; lift them into the iced water. Cook the asparagus tips for 2 to 3 minutes and chill them the same way, then cook fresh peas for 60 to 90 seconds or frozen peas for about 2 minutes. Drain everything thoroughly and spread the vegetables on a clean towel to dry. They have different clocks, so cooking them separately is not brigade fuss. It is what keeps the beans supple, the asparagus intact, and the peas sweet.

5. 5

   Build the sauce suprême

   Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook this blond roux for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, without letting it color. Add the hot poaching liquor in four additions, whisking each one smooth before adding the next, then hold the sauce at a bare simmer for 12 minutes. Stir in the cream and simmer gently until the sauce naps the back of a spoon and measures exactly 2 cups (about 475 ml), roughly 8 to 12 minutes more. If it becomes too thick, loosen it with poaching liquor one tablespoon at a time; if it remains thin, keep it at the bare simmer. Lumps are no tragedy: pass the sauce through the fine-mesh sieve and continue.

6. 6

   Monter au beurre

   Take the sauce completely off the heat and wait until all bubbling stops. Monter au beurre means to mount with butter: whisk in the chilled Printanier Butter (No. 157), one small piece at a time, using the source proportion of 2 oz (56 g) for the finished pint of sauce. The sauce should become glossy and softly green. Do not return it to the burner or let it boil, because high heat dulls the vegetable color and loosens the emulsion. If the first butter makes the surface look oily, set the pan in a shallow bowl of cool water for 10 seconds and whisk in 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) cold poaching liquor before continuing. Ça se rattrape. Season with white pepper and salt only after the butter is incorporated.

7. 7

   Bind the garnish

   Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter with the reserved 2 tablespoons poaching liquor in a wide skillet over medium-low heat. When the two form a glossy emulsion, add the dried peas, French beans, and asparagus tips. Turn them gently for 2 to 3 minutes, just until hot and evenly coated. Do not brown them or let the liquid boil away into plain fat; the book's instruction that they be cohered with butter means they should arrive as one glistening garnish, not three dry piles.

8. 8

   Coat and serve

   Warm a deep oval platter with hot water, then dry it thoroughly. Remove the string from the poularde, drain the cavity once more, and place the bird breast-side up on the platter. Spoon enough sauce suprême over it to coat the breast, legs, and wings in an even glossy layer, then arrange the butter-bound peas, French beans, and asparagus tips generously around the bird. Serve the remaining sauce in a warmed sauceboat and bring the poularde to the table at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A true poularde is a plump, tender young hen with more fat than an everyday roasting chicken. If your butcher can't supply one, choose a compact young chicken weighing no more than 4 lb (1.8 kg). The substitution changes some richness, not the structure of the dish; careful poaching matters more than pedigree.
• •This is genuinely a spring dish because fresh asparagus and fine French beans carry half its character. Frozen peas are an honest choice and often sweeter than tired fresh ones, but woody asparagus cannot be corrected with sauce. Out of season, choose another classical garnish rather than forcing this one.
• •The quantity of Printanier Butter (No. 157) is not decorative. The source calls for 2 oz per pint of sauce, which is why the sauce is measured before mounting. Add less and the vert-pré character disappears; add more and the sauce becomes greasy.
• •Use real butter and heavy cream. Margarine and reduced-fat cream contain the wrong balance of fat and water for this emulsion, and the sauce loses both its gloss and its clean finish.
• •Serve with a dry, rounded white wine that has enough body for the cream but no heavy oak. A restrained white Burgundy or a mature dry Chenin Blanc suits the poularde and leaves the green vegetables tasting fresh.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Printanier Butter (No. 157) through its own entry up to 3 days ahead and keep it tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. Cut the required portion into small pieces while cold, then return it to the refrigerator until the sauce is ready.
• •The poularde may be poached 1 day ahead. Transfer it with enough strained liquor to a shallow container, cool the container promptly over ice, cover, and refrigerate. Rewarm the bird gently in its liquor until the breast reaches 165°F (74°C); never bring the broth to a hard boil.
• •The sauce suprême can be prepared through the cream reduction several hours ahead. Press parchment directly against its surface, chill it promptly, then reheat gently and adjust it to exactly 2 cups (about 475 ml). Add the Printanier Butter (No. 157) only off the heat and immediately before serving.
• •Blanch and chill the peas, French beans, and asparagus tips earlier in the day. Dry and refrigerate them separately, then bind them with butter only while the finished poularde rests.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 465g)