Chef Juliette
John Dory (St. Pierre)
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Poulet Sauté Beaulieu
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1537, Poulet Sauté Beaulieu, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Butter-sautéed chicken, hazelnut-sized potatoes, artichoke bottoms, and black olives meet in earthenware, while white wine, lemon, veal stock, and the copper fond become the only sauce the dish needs.
Main Dishes
French
Weeknight
One Pot
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield4 servings
Poulet Sauté Beaulieu (chicken browned briskly in butter with hazelnut potatoes, artichoke bottoms, and black olives) teaches the first law of a sauté: the fond is the sauce. Brown the bird without scorching the butter, and three spoonfuls of white wine, a touch of lemon, and one spoonful of veal stock will lift that copper glaze into something bright, glossy, and complete.
The book assumed a sauté pan, a separate earthenware cocotte, a saucier to deglaze the first while the chicken waited in the second, and veal stock never off the fire. At home, one wide flameproof casserole does both jobs, and a measured spoonful of prepared veal stock replaces the stockpot. The separate transfer was brigade scaffolding, so it goes; the ten-minute covered oven finish, equal five-ounce measures of potato and artichoke, exactly twelve olives, and the final five-minute simmer stay because they are the dish. I have fixed the elastic “few spoonfuls” of wine at three tablespoons and the “little lemon juice” at one teaspoon, enough to lift the fond without flooding it.
This is one cook, one stove, one evening, and the finished chicken comes straight to the table in its pot. The step that decides everything is the browning: keep the fond copper-brown, never black.
Poulet Sauté Beaulieu belongs to the classical grand-kitchen repertory, and its name points toward Beaulieu-sur-Mer on the Côte d’Azur through a garnish of artichokes and black olives. Like many geographic titles in the canon, it records a style of garnish more securely than a documented local household origin; the butter sauté and veal-enriched deglazing are classical technique, not a generic olive-oil southern stew. Earthenware service makes the formula equally at home on a bourgeois table, with the pan juices kept beside the chicken rather than presented as a separate formal sauce.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small chicken
Quantity
1, about 3½ lb (1.6 kg)
cut into 8 pieces
unsalted butter
Quantity
5 tablespoons (75 ml / 71 g)
divided
peewee new potatoes
Quantity
1 cup (5 oz / 142 g)
scrubbed and cut to hazelnut size if necessary
water-packed artichoke bottoms
Quantity
1 cup (5 oz / 142 g)
drained well and quartered
small black olives
Quantity
12 (about ¼ cup / 35 g)
drained
dry white wine
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 44 g)
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g)
gelatin-rich veal stock
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g)
fine sea salt
Quantity
1¼ teaspoons (6 ml / 7 g)
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small chickencut into 8 pieces | 1, about 3½ lb (1.6 kg) |
| unsalted butterdivided | 5 tablespoons (75 ml / 71 g) |
| peewee new potatoesscrubbed and cut to hazelnut size if necessary | 1 cup (5 oz / 142 g) |
| water-packed artichoke bottomsdrained well and quartered | 1 cup (5 oz / 142 g) |
| small black olivesdrained | 12 (about ¼ cup / 35 g) |
| dry white wine | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 44 g) |
| fresh lemon juice | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g) |
| gelatin-rich veal stock | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 1¼ teaspoons (6 ml / 7 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •3½-quart (3.3 L) wide flameproof earthenware casserole with lid, or an enameled cast-iron braiser
- •Tongs or a slotted spoon
- •Wooden spoon
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the chicken
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Pat every chicken piece completely dry, then season with 1 teaspoon of the salt and all the pepper. Dry skin is essential: moisture turns a sauté into a steam bath, while a dry surface browns quickly enough to protect the meat beneath.
Keep the breast pieces separate from the legs as you work. They often finish first and can be lifted out while the legs take another minute or two. - 2
Butter-cook the garnish
Melt 1½ tablespoons of the butter in a wide, lidded flameproof casserole over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, then roll them through the butter for 8 to 10 minutes, covering the pot for the middle 5 minutes, until pale gold and nearly tender at the centre. Add the quartered artichoke bottoms and cook uncovered for 2 minutes, turning gently so their cut faces take a little colour without breaking. Lift the potatoes and artichokes onto a plate.
- 3
Sauté the chicken
Add 2½ tablespoons of butter to the casserole, keeping the final tablespoon cold and ready to refresh the pan. When the foam subsides, sauté the chicken in two batches, skin-side down first, for 5 to 6 minutes, then for 2 to 3 minutes on the bone side. Add portions of the reserved butter as the pan needs them. The skin should be deep butter-gold and the fond underneath copper-brown. If the butter produces black flecks before the chicken colours, stop. Ça se rattrape: lift out the chicken, pour away the burnt fat, wipe out the black crumbs without scrubbing the pot, and restart with the reserved butter over gentler heat.
- 4
Finish under cover
Return all the chicken to the casserole, skin-side up, and tuck the potatoes and artichoke quarters around it. Cover and place in the oven for exactly 10 minutes. The covered heat finishes the sauté gently and lets the garnish drink in the butter without drying. Transfer the chicken and vegetables briefly to the upturned lid or a warm plate, leaving every browned trace in the casserole.
- 5
Lift the fond
Set the casserole over medium heat and pour in the white wine, lemon juice, and veal stock. Scrape the floor with a wooden spoon while the liquid bubbles for 60 to 90 seconds, dissolving the fond completely. The result should be a scant, glossy pan juice, not a bowlful of gravy. If it tastes bitter, a blackened patch escaped notice and cannot be hidden; pour the liquid away, wipe the pot, and rebuild it with the same measures of wine, lemon, and stock. Never apologize at your own table. Fix it.
- 6
Simmer with olives
Return the chicken, potatoes, and artichokes to the casserole and add the twelve black olives. Hold everything at a bare simmer for 5 minutes, spooning the pan juices over the chicken once or twice, until the thickest pieces reach 165°F (74°C). If the breast is ready before the legs, lift it out and let the legs finish. If the sauce tightens too far, loosen it with a tablespoon of water; if it remains watery, remove the solids and reduce it for another minute before returning them.
- 7
Serve from the pot
Taste the pan juices for salt, remembering that the olives bring their own. Arrange the chicken skin-side up, spoon the potatoes, artichokes, and olives around it, and carry the casserole straight to the table. No separate sauceboat and no stray herbs. The dish is its own sauce. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The source asks for artichoke bottoms, not leafy artichoke hearts. Water-packed canned bottoms are the honest pantry answer when fresh artichokes aren't at their best; drain them thoroughly so their water doesn't dilute the butter.
- •Choose the smallest waxy new potatoes you can find. If yours are larger, cut them into even hazelnut-sized pieces. Uniform cooking matters here, decorative turning does not. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.
- •Use a light, gelatin-rich veal stock rather than salty demi-glace. If veal stock cannot be found, good unsalted chicken stock will work, but the pan juice will have less body and a lighter finish.
- •Pitted olives make an easier weeknight supper, while unpitted olives stay plumper during the simmer. Either way, keep the source's exact twelve and tell everyone plainly if the stones remain.
- •Pour the same dry white wine used in the casserole, bright and unoaked. The chicken needs no elaborate accompaniment, though plain green beans or bread for the pan juices will not be refused.
Advance Preparation
- •The chicken can be cut, dried, and salted up to 4 hours ahead, then held uncovered in the cold. Its surface will dry further and brown more readily.
- •The potatoes and artichoke bottoms can be butter-cooked up to 3 hours ahead and held covered in the cold. Bring them back toward room temperature before returning them to the casserole.
- •The finished dish is best served at once. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and keep them for up to 2 days; reheat gently with a spoonful of water so the scant sauce does not disappear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
665 calories
Total Fat
43 g
Saturated Fat
17 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
22 g
Cholesterol
215 mg
Sodium
1050 mg
Total Carbohydrates
11 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
57 g
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