Poularde Sylvana

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5-quart (4.7 L) heavy cocotte with a tight-fitting lid
• •12-inch (30 cm) wide skillet
• •Shallow roasting pan safe for stovetop deglazing
• •Rolling pin and pastry brush
• •Kitchen twine
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Small saucepan and warm sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the pastry

   Reserve 2 tablespoons of the flour and 1 teaspoon of the pastry butter. Mix the remaining flour with 1 teaspoon of the salt, then rub in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few flat flakes still visible. Add the ice water a spoonful at a time, stopping as soon as the dough holds together when pressed. Flatten into a disc, wrap, and chill for 30 minutes. This plain pâte brisée (shortcrust pastry) replaces the source's unspecified paste: it rolls thinly, seals firmly, and can face the table without looking like builder's putty.

   If the dough cracks when pressed, add another teaspoon of ice water. If it feels sticky, dust it with a little of the reserved flour. Ça se rattrape.
2. 2

   Brown the mushrooms

   Pat the mushrooms dry. Melt their 4 tablespoons of butter in a wide skillet over medium heat and cook until the bubbling quiets, the milk solids turn hazelnut-brown, and the butter smells toasted. This is beurre noisette (hazelnut-browned butter). Add the mushrooms, raise the heat to medium-high, and toss until their liquid has cooked away and their edges are golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Season with ½ teaspoon of the salt and spread them on a plate to cool. If liquid pools in the skillet, give the mushrooms more room and stronger heat; don't drain them, because their flavour would go down the sink with the liquid.

3. 3

   Stuff the bird

   Pat the chicken thoroughly dry and season its cavity and skin with ¾ teaspoon of the salt. Spoon the cooled mushrooms loosely into the cavity, leaving enough room for the heat to circulate, then tie the legs together and tuck the wing tips underneath. If the final spoonful won't fit without packing, reserve it for the cocotte rather than forcing it inside.

4. 4

   Half-brown the chicken

   Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Set the chicken breast-side up in a shallow roasting pan and spoon over any beurre noisette remaining from the mushroom skillet. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the skin is deeply golden but the meat is only partly cooked. This first roasting supplies the colour the sealed cocotte cannot. If the skin remains pale, give it another 5 minutes in the hot oven; a broiler scorches the high points before the rest can bronze. Preserve every brown mark and juice in the roasting pan for the gravy, then lower the oven to 375°F (190°C).

5. 5

   Half-cook the garnish

   Tie the parsley stalks, chervil, and mint into a compact herb bundle. Cut the lettuce julienne-fashion, into fine matchstick-like shreds. Put the new onions, lettuce, herb bundle, sugar, ½ teaspoon of the salt, pea-garnish butter, and water into the mushroom skillet. If using fresh peas, add them now. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, tossing the pan twice, until the onions begin to yield and the peas remain firm. If using frozen peas, fold them in only for the final minute because they were blanched before freezing. If the pan catches before the onions soften, add 1 tablespoon of water, lower the heat, and continue. Discard the herb bundle.

6. 6

   Line and seal

   Rub the inside of a 5-quart (4.7 L) cocotte with the reserved teaspoon of butter. On the reserved flour, roll the chilled pastry about 1⁄16 inch (2 mm) thick and large enough to line the base and sides with roughly 2 inches (5 cm) hanging beyond the rim. Ease it into the cocotte without stretching it; patch any tear with a scrap and egg white. Set the half-browned chicken breast-side up inside, surround it with the pea garnish and any spare mushrooms, then lay the fatback or overlapping bacon over the breast. Fit the lid. Brush the pastry overhang and lid edge with egg white, draw the pastry over the joint, and press it firmly against the lid to form an unbroken lutage. Keep the remaining egg white and pastry scraps nearby.

7. 7

   Bake under seal

   Set the sealed cocotte on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 375°F (190°C) for 45 minutes, allowing 5 extra minutes for a bird near 4 lb (1.8 kg). Don't lift the lid. The closed pot traps the chicken juices, mushroom perfume, butter, and vegetable liquor, which is the one principle the dish asks you to defend. If the pastry seam splits while baking, work quickly: brush the crack with egg white, press on a scrap of dough, and return the cocotte to the oven. Ça se rattrape.

8. 8

   Reduce the gravy

   As soon as the cocotte goes into the oven, set the roasting pan over medium heat and pour in the chicken stock. Scrape up every piece of fond, then boil steadily until reduced to about ¾ cup (180 ml), 12 to 15 minutes. Strain into a small saucepan and keep it ready over the gentlest heat. Just before serving, remove it from the heat and whisk in the cold finishing butter with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. If the butter beads on the surface, whisk in 1 teaspoon of cold water off the heat until the gravy returns to a gloss. Pour it into a warm sauceboat.

9. 9

   Open at the table

   Rest the cocotte, still sealed, for 15 minutes, then carry it to the table. Cut through the pastry band and lift the lid where everyone can see the butter-glossed garnish beneath. Before carving, check the deepest part of the thigh with an instant-read thermometer; it must register at least 165°F (74°C). If it falls short, move the chicken to the roasting pan and finish it at 375°F (190°C), leaving the covered vegetables in the cocotte. The ceremony pauses, supper survives. Carve the chicken, spoon peas, onions, lettuce, mushrooms, and cocotte juices around it, and pass the chicken gravy separately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A true poularde is a plump young hen with enough fat to remain succulent through this double cooking, but it is rarely waiting in an ordinary market. A small roasting chicken is the honest home equivalent. Keep it below 4 lb (1.8 kg), or the source's sealed cooking time no longer holds.
• •Fresh peas belong here when they are genuinely sweet. Outside their season, use frozen peas picked at their peak and add them only at the end of the preliminary cooking; the sealed cocotte will finish them.
• •The source's single slice of bacon means a broad barde laid over the breast, not one narrow breakfast strip. Ask for thin fatback if your butcher has it, or overlap several slices of unsmoked bacon so the breast is completely protected.
• •The pastry is structural before it is edible. Roll it thin, repair every tear, and press the egg-white seam firmly around the lid. Flour-and-water sealing dough would work, but pâte brisée gives the same closure with a better welcome at a dinner table. We don't apologize for butter.
• •Serve a restrained white Burgundy or another dry Chardonnay with enough body for the mushrooms and butter. A heavily oaked bottle crowds the peas, lettuce, chervil, and mint.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the pâte brisée up to one day ahead and keep it chilled. Let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling so it bends without cracking.
• •Brown the mushrooms and half-cook the vegetable garnish up to 4 hours ahead, then chill them separately. Bring the garnish toward room temperature while the chicken begins roasting.
• •Don't stuff the raw bird hours in advance. Fill it with cooled mushrooms shortly before roasting so the cavity passes through unsafe temperatures quickly.
• •The stock can be reduced by one-third a day ahead. On the evening, use that concentrated stock to deglaze the fresh roasting fond and complete the gravy.
• •Once warm chicken and vegetables enter the pastry-lined cocotte, seal and bake without delay. This is not the stage to hold for late guests.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 685g)