Creamy Braised Rooster With Bacon and White Wine (Blanquette de Poulet) Recipe

Final fall, my boyfriend and I had dinner reservations at Le Pichet, one in all our favourite French eating places in Seattle. We would made the reserving weeks prematurely and had been wanting ahead to having fun with a comfortable night stuffed with good wine and a number of the greatest french fries on the town. Round lunchtime, the restaurant’s host referred to as to tell us that the kitchen’s hood fan had damaged. Whereas they deliberate to maintain the restaurant open, they might supply a brief menu of dishes that require minimal stovetop use. In different phrases, the steak frites I had been dreaming about for weeks wasn’t going to occur. 

We arrived on the restaurant with drastically lowered expectations. To my shock, the momentary menu featured many delicious-sounding choices, together with salads, charcuterie, and steak tartare. Blanquette de poulet—a creamy braised rooster with bacon and white wine—caught my eye. It arrived in a shallow bowl: A young rooster leg and stewed greens lay over pearled farro, soaked in a lightweight cream sauce. The dish was comforting and creamy, however not overly heavy. It jogged my memory of coq au riesling—basically a model of coq au vin made with white wine as an alternative of pink—however with extra greens and a creamier sauce. I virtually licked the bowl and instructed my server that I hoped they might add it to their common menu. (They sadly haven’t.) I attempted to recreate it at residence the very subsequent week. 

Cooking one thing en blanquette refers back to the French methodology of making ready chicken in a white sauce. This homey French stew is often made with veal (blanquette de veau), however rooster (blanquette de poulet) and different meats can be utilized as nicely. To make it, cooks simmer veal and greens in inventory till tender, take away the meat, and thicken the broth with a roux to make a sauce velouté—basically a béchamel with a base of rooster inventory as an alternative of milk. Lastly, a mix of cream and egg, referred to as a “liaison” in French, thickens the sauce additional, including richness and a brilliant silky texture. The meat is returned to the pot together with some sautéed mushrooms, and the dish is served with rice, bread, or egg noodles.

The dish I loved on the restaurant fell someplace between a blanquette de poulet and a basic coq au riesling. My homage to their recipe begins with cooking chopped bacon till crispy, then browning bone-in, skin-on rooster thighs within the rendered fats. As soon as the meat is golden, I take away it from the pan and add a mix of onions, carrots, and celery. These aromatics kind the bottom of the dish, with the carrots including a sweetness that rounds out the completed sauce. At this level, I additionally add the chopped mushrooms. In each a basic blanquette and coq au riesling, the mushrooms are sometimes sautéed individually and added in the direction of the top to protect their pure umami taste and permit them to brown barely. Having tried that methodology and located the distinction in taste negligible, I favor to only prepare dinner them with the greens. As soon as the greens are mushy, the rooster is returned to the pan with some white wine and inventory, then slowly braised till the meat is fall-apart tender—about 45 minutes.

Whereas I really like the feel of a basic sauce velouté, the roux requires an additional pot, and it may be difficult to reheat with out curdling the egg. I discovered I may get comparable outcomes with a easy cornstarch slurry and a splash of cream, which produces a sauce simply thick sufficient to coat the again of a spoon with out turning gloppy or gelatinous. Including the cream on the very finish, as soon as the pot has been faraway from the warmth, helps decrease the chance of the sauce splitting. (When cream is added to a dish that is too scorching, the warmth may cause the dairy proteins to separate, leading to cut up or curdled dairy.)

Historically, a blanquette-style stew is served with white rice, however my favourite solution to eat it’s with a hearty grain, reminiscent of farro or barley, which might stand as much as the richness of the cream sauce. Pearl couscous is one other good selection, as is a chunk of fine old style crusty bread. Like most braises, this dish is superb the subsequent day. And on a couple of event, I’ve turned my leftovers into a simple pot pie by merely including a sheet of store-bought puff pastry on prime and baking till golden. Irrespective of the way you serve this dish, one factor is for positive: You are in for an extremely comforting meal that can maintain you cozy on even the coldest winter evening.