Poularde Petite Mariée

Poularde Petite Mariée (young hen with spring vegetables in Sauce Suprême) teaches the economy of a classical poach: the reduced cooking liquor is the point. Keep the cocotte snug and the little white stock captures the bird's juices instead of diluting them; later, that liquor is reduced and married into the sauce. A broad pot gives you pale broth and a long, joyless reduction.

The original entry assumed white stock never off the fire, a saucier ready with excellent Sauce Suprême, and enough hands to watch the poularde and each young vegetable at once. At home, have those two finished foundations ready, use a 5- to 6-quart cocotte and a gentle oven, then lift the vegetables as each becomes tender. A true poularde can be difficult to find, so a plump young chicken of the same home-scale weight is the honest equivalent. The garnish count and its order remain untouched.

Separate hands, decorative vegetable turning, and an oversized poaching vessel are brigade scaffolding; they can go. The snug poach, reduced liquor, and Sauce Suprême must stay, because they are the dish. Done well, the bird arrives whole under ivory sauce, with sweet onions, carrots, potatoes, and peas gathered close. The one step that decides it is the reduction: take the cooking liquor down until one spoonful tastes richly of chicken, then stop before it turns salty or sticky.