CHICKEN IN CREAM BOCUSE STYLE
A lesson in Paul Bocuse’s home cooking style.
Simplicity was always a principle that Paul Bocuse incorporated into his haute cuisine. He began his culinary journey from the ground up, as an apprentice in various kitchens, learning from icons of French cuisine. These mentors included Fernand Point, hailed as the father of nouvelle cuisine, and La Mère Brazier, the first female Michelin-starred chef famous for her simple, hearty regional dishes crafted to perfection using high-quality local produce.
From these influences, I believe Bocuse always had one foot firmly grounded in the significance of terroir and loved the opportunity to demonstrate that cooking need not be overly complicated. Following his recipes from his classic TV show really demonstrated to me that you don't need to be a professional chef to create delicious dishes when working with great ingredients. In this recipe, the chicken is poached. One of his favorite methods involved using an entire chicken, including the offcuts and carcass, to create a chicken dish with a sauce. Everything gets cooked together. This approach not only eliminates waste but also imparts additional flavor, avoiding the need for stock. When all is said and done, the prime cuts grace your plate, while the carcass is used to enhance the sauce's flavor. You’ll be surprised just how flavorful this dish is with such simple ingredients. Our dear Bocuse was, without a doubt, a culinary genius!
INGREDIENTS
To cook the chicken:
1 chicken (about 1.6 kg [3.5 lbs])
Salt and pepper to season
4 Small shallots
1 small carrot
1 clove garlic
60 g (2 oz) butter
1 bouquet garni
250 ml (1 cup) Dry French white wine (sauvignon blanc or chablis)
250 ml (1 cup) water (mineral water)
For the sauce
400 ml (1 ¾ cups) heavy cream
2 egg yolks
Mise en Place
Break down the chicken into 6 pieces, then cut the chicken carcass into pieces and the wings into halves.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
Method
In a large saute pan or pot, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the chicken pieces, and leve to cook for minutes on each side until lightly blonde color
follow by adding the carcass pieces, wings, and vegetable garnish (garlic, shallots, carrot, and the bouquet garni).
Add the water and the wine, then leave to cook partially partly covered for 20 -25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove the noble pieces (breast, legs, and thighs) from the pot and reserve them in a serving dish. ( leave the carcass and offcut behing to further flavor the sauce later) Pour a few tablespoons of cooking juices over the chicken and place the serving dish covered in the oven at 50 degrees Celsius to keep it warm while you make the sauce.
Discard the bouquet garni from the pan used to cook the chicken and add the cream. Boil the sauce for 10 minutes to reduce.
When done, turn off the heat. Mix the egg yolks in a bowl with a little of the warm sauce and pour that mixture back into the sauce. Give it a whisk to bind it. (Note that once the eggs yolks are in, the sauce cannot boil anymore, as the eggs will curdle).
To finish, take the serving dish out of the oven and filter the sauce through a sieve over the chicken, pressing down with a spoon to extract as much sauce as possible. Serve with pilaf rice or as a side with green beans, garden peas, or sautéed spinach.