Chef Juliette
John Dory (St. Pierre)
John Dory has the delicacy of sole and the firmness of turbot. A light flouring, a quick butter sauté, and nut-brown beurre noisette show exactly why looks never mattered.
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Poulet Sauté Bordelaise
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1538, Poulet Sauté Bordelaise, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Bordeaux’s name belongs to the garnish here: butter-sautéed chicken ringed with artichokes, potatoes, fried onion and parsley, finished with only enough pan gravy to make it gleam.
Main Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
40 min
Active Time
50 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
Yield4 servings
Poulet Sauté Bordelaise (butter-sautéed chicken with the Bordeaux garnish) teaches the discipline of garniture, the composed border around a principal ingredient. Each element must keep its own texture and shape, then meet on the platter at the last moment. The one true thing to know before touching the pan is that Bordeaux’s name belongs to the garnish here, not to a wine sauce.
The original entry assumed a saucier with chicken gravy ready, a stockpot never off the fire, and another pair of hands tending artichokes, potatoes, onions, and parsley while the chicken sautéed. At home, one strong unsalted stock reduced against the chicken’s fond, a second skillet, and a warmed platter do the same work. I’ve scaled the brigade dish to one market chicken for four and clarified part of the butter so it can take frying heat without turning bitter. The equipment changed because one cook has only two hands; the flavor did not. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The ready gravy and spare garnish cook were scaffolding. They can go. What must stay is the separate butter cooking, the little heaps arranged around the bird, the fried parsley between them, and only a few spoonfuls of gravy over the chicken. Control the butter while the skin takes its deep bronze color. That browning decides the dish.
The title points to Bordeaux and the Gironde, yet this particular Poulet Sauté Bordelaise belongs to the codified French dining-room repertoire, where a place-name could identify a composed garnish as readily as a sauce. Its artichoke bottoms, buttered potatoes, fried onion roundels, and fried parsley traveled through professional recipe books as a formal border around sautéed poultry. The common misconception is to reach for red wine, but this entry calls for none: Bordeaux’s name sits on the garnish.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole chicken
Quantity
1 chicken (about 3½ lb / 1.6 kg)
cut into 8 serving pieces
unsalted butter
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 225 g)
divided
small frozen artichoke bottoms
Quantity
8 bottoms, about 2 cups (475 ml / 300 g)
thawed, quartered, and thoroughly dried
small waxy potatoes
Quantity
4 potatoes, about 3 cups (710 ml / 450 g)
peeled and sliced ¼ inch (6 mm) thick
large yellow onion
Quantity
1 onion, about 2 cups (475 ml / 250 g)
sliced crosswise into ¼-inch (6 mm) roundels
flat-leaf parsley sprigs
Quantity
1 packed cup (240 ml / 25 g)
washed and completely dried
strong unsalted chicken stock
Quantity
¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g)
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g)
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole chickencut into 8 serving pieces | 1 chicken (about 3½ lb / 1.6 kg) |
| unsalted butterdivided | 1 cup (240 ml / 225 g) |
| small frozen artichoke bottomsthawed, quartered, and thoroughly dried | 8 bottoms, about 2 cups (475 ml / 300 g) |
| small waxy potatoespeeled and sliced ¼ inch (6 mm) thick | 4 potatoes, about 3 cups (710 ml / 450 g) |
| large yellow onionsliced crosswise into ¼-inch (6 mm) roundels | 1 onion, about 2 cups (475 ml / 250 g) |
| flat-leaf parsley sprigswashed and completely dried | 1 packed cup (240 ml / 25 g) |
| strong unsalted chicken stock | ¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet with a lid
- •10-inch (25 cm) skillet or sauté pan
- •Small saucepan for clarifying butter
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Splatter screen and long tongs
- •Large oval platter and rimmed warming tray
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the mise en place
Take the chicken from the cold 30 minutes before cooking, pat every piece dry, and season it with 1½ teaspoons of the salt and all the pepper. Put a large oval platter and a rimmed tray in a 200°F (95°C) oven for 10 minutes, then turn the oven off. Reserve 4 tablespoons of the butter whole. Melt the remaining 12 tablespoons gently, skim away the foam, and pour the clear butterfat into a bowl, leaving the milky sediment behind; you should have about 10 tablespoons of clarified butter. Clarified butter is still butter, but it tolerates the heat needed for the onions and parsley without scorching.
Have every garnish cut and dry before the chicken enters the skillet. Bordelaise is won by timing, and wet parsley meeting hot butter is both disorderly and dangerous. - 2
Sauté the chicken
Heat 3 tablespoons of clarified butter with 1 tablespoon of the reserved whole butter in the large skillet over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, brown the thighs and drumsticks skin-side down for 6 to 8 minutes, then turn them for 3 minutes. Remove them and brown the breasts and wings the same way, allowing about 5 minutes on the skin and 2 minutes on the other side. Return the dark meat, lower the heat, cover with the lid slightly ajar, and cook for 8 minutes. Add the breasts and wings, then continue gently for 6 to 10 minutes, turning once, until the breasts reach 165°F (74°C) and the thighs reach about 175°F (79°C). Begin the next step on a second burner during this gentle finish. Transfer each piece to the warmed platter as it is ready, skin-side up.
The butter should smell nutty and the fond, the browned film beneath the chicken, should be chestnut-colored. If the butter turns black or smells acrid, move the chicken to a clean warm skillet with fresh clarified butter and leave the burnt fond behind. Ça se rattrape. - 3
Stew the buttered garnish
While the chicken finishes, heat 1 tablespoon of clarified butter and 1 tablespoon of whole butter in the second skillet over medium-low heat. Add the artichoke quarters with a pinch of salt, cover, and stew them gently for 5 minutes. Uncover and turn them until their edges are pale gold and their centers tender, then move them to the warm tray. Add 2 tablespoons of clarified butter and the remaining 2 tablespoons of whole butter. Lay in the potato slices, season lightly, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 6 minutes. Uncover, turn the slices, and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes until tender within and butter-gold on both faces. If they brown before the centers soften, add 1 tablespoon of the measured stock and cover for 2 minutes; uncover again and let the moisture cook away. Ça se rattrape. Transfer the potatoes to the warm tray.
- 4
Fry onion and parsley
Pour the remaining clarified butter into the garnish skillet and raise the heat to medium. Fry the onion roundels in batches, keeping their rings nested where possible, until deep gold and tender, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Drain them on absorbent paper and season lightly. Add the bone-dry parsley in small batches and cover immediately with a splatter screen. Fry each batch for 10 to 15 seconds, just until the leaves turn dark green, crisp, and glassy, then lift them out with tongs and drain. If an onion roundel breaks, stack its rings into a little heap; the platter forgives what the ruler would not.
- 5
Build the border
Bring the chicken platter from the switched-off oven and arrange the pieces compactly in the center, keeping the browned skin visible. Make 4 small heaps each of artichoke quarters, potato slices, and fried onion roundels around the chicken, alternating them rather than mixing them. Set a small tuft of fried parsley between each heap. This distinct border is the Bordelaise garniture, and it must look abundant, not fussy.
- 6
Swill the pan
Pour away excess fat from the chicken skillet, leaving about 1 tablespoon and every sound brown trace of fond. Add the remaining stock, bring it to a lively simmer, and scrape the pan clean with a wooden spoon. Reduce to about ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g), glossy and concentrated but still fluid. If it remains thin, reduce it further; if it tightens or tastes too salty, loosen it with a spoonful of unsalted stock or water. If the fond burned, use a clean saucepan and add the juices collected beneath the resting chicken instead. Spoon this quick chicken gravy over the chicken only, keeping the fried garnish crisp. This is a glaze, not a moat. Serve at once. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Frozen artichoke bottoms are the honest home choice when fresh artichokes aren't at their best. They preserve the correct shape and mild flavor. Jarred hearts are often sharpened with acid; if they are your only option, rinse them well, press them dry, and expect a brighter result.
- •Choose waxy potatoes such as Yukon Gold or a small yellow boiling potato. A floury baking potato breaks when turned and cannot hold the neat buttered slices the garniture requires.
- •Use strong, unsalted chicken stock. The pan reduces it to a few spoonfuls, so ordinary salted broth can become harsh before it gains enough body.
- •Artichokes can make a firm red wine taste metallic. A dry white Bordeaux, built from Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, is the happier glass here and belongs naturally beside the dish.
- •Store leftover chicken and each garnish separately in the cold for up to 2 days. Rewarm the chicken and gravy gently, then refresh the potatoes and onions in a buttered skillet so their edges recover.
Advance Preparation
- •The artichokes may be thawed, quartered, and dried up to 6 hours ahead. Slice the onion and wash the parsley at the same time, then spread the parsley on a towel in the cold so every leaf is dry before frying.
- •The chicken can be cut and seasoned up to 8 hours ahead, uncovered in the cold. Its dry surface will brown more readily; take it out 30 minutes before cooking.
- •The potatoes may be sliced up to 1 hour ahead and held under cold water. Drain and dry them thoroughly before they meet the butter. Fry the parsley only at the last moment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 480g)
Calories
980 calories
Total Fat
68 g
Saturated Fat
34 g
Trans Fat
2 g
Unsaturated Fat
32 g
Cholesterol
280 mg
Sodium
1420 mg
Total Carbohydrates
34 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
59 g
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