Suprêmes de Volaille Orly

Suprêmes de Volaille Orly (marinated chicken breast fillets in light batter) teaches one uncompromising principle: batter clings to a dry surface and cooks cleanly only in properly hot fat. Get those two things right and each suprême emerges crisp and pale gold, with juicy white meat beneath, fried parsley beside it, and a smooth sauce tomate (tomato sauce) waiting in its own boat.

The original directions assumed a saucier holding the sauce, another cook minding a broad vat of frying fat, and small poultry breasts that cooked through almost as soon as their batter colored. At home, a saucepan makes the sauce, a thermometer governs a heavy pot, and four modern breasts are shaped to an even ⅝-inch thickness so the meat and coating finish together. No stockpot simmering all day and no salamander are needed. The napkin-lined platter and brigade-sized fryer were service scaffolding; a wire rack and a deep home pot replace them honestly. The hour-long marinade, thorough drying, light batter, quick frying, green parsley, and sauce served apart are the dish itself, so they stay.

Dry the chicken as though the success of dinner depends upon it, because here it does. If the batter begins sliding away, stop before the chicken reaches the oil. Ça se rattrape, and the method tells you precisely how.