Poule au Pot - a Sunday Chicken for everyone!

A whole chicken placed in a pot is an easy Sunday dinner filled with comfort. Journey with me in your kitchen this Sunday to France, the Bordeaux and Gascony regions specifically. Located on the Atlantic (western) side of France, these regions have a lot of delicous things to offer us. Before I dive into the recipe, let's understand the area a little bit.

About Bordeaux & Gascony

Bordeaux’s position near the ocean, on three rivers, mild climate and rocky soil make it the perfect area to produce wine. Bordeaux has been the main supplier of wine to the British since 1224. They preferred light reds. This was important trade and revived the viticulture in the area. In the 1600’s the Dutch got involved and improved the viticulture of the area with their preferences for darker reds and sweeter whites and also their insistence on quality assurance. The grading system was then created and the variety and amount of wine produced in this region expanded exponentially to what it is today. 

Famous products from the area beyond wine are Armagnac, Plum trees in Agen for prunes - Pruneaux d’Agen, prunes are stuffed with prune cream as a delicacy or enjoyed as is, out of hand, used in baking and cooking with pork and duck, foie gras, duck dishes, purple mustard from Brieve using grape must, special pastis pastry, tobacco.

The main grape types from this region are: 

Reds: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc or Bouchet, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec/Auxerrois/Cot/Pressac.

Whites: Semillon and Sauvignon

Floc de Gascogne - grape must mixed with young armagnac, shortly matured, refined and filtered - a one year process. 

Armagnac is made from a specific “thin wine” (Ugni Blanc mainly, 10 other varieties allowed) that is perfect for distillation. Vines are grown in sandy soil on a clay base vs cognac vines grown in chalky soil. After distillation, Armagnac is aged in Gascony oak then transferred to older barrels for no more than 45 years, then demijohns or bottles When choosing an Armagnac, the barreling age and bottling age stated on the bottle are important. Armagnac stops aging once bottled.

Now, grab a Merlot or a glass of Armagnac and let's get cooking!

Poule au Pot, Sunday chicken for everyone

Serves 6-12

1 large chicken - 3 lbs + 2 breasts with bones and skin

2 thick slices of ham or 3 thick slices of bacon, diced

1 teaspoon dried tarragon

2 eggs, whisked

3 tablespoons of butter, cubed

About 3 cups torn bread - 5-6 slices

1 bottle White Bordeaux wine, divided, use about ⅔ cup for stuffing

2 medium onions, 1 finely diced and one left whole 

4 bay leaves

4 garlic cloves chopped

About 6 carrots

4 leeks, halved lengthwise and tied

6 stalks of celery - 4 whole for the chicken pot and 2 finely diced for stuffing

3-4 large potatoes, quartered

1 Savoy cabbage, halved and tied

Salt and pepper 

Cold sauce: 3 gherkins finely diced, (1 hard boiled egg finely diced is traditional but I don’t use it), 1 shallot finely diced, oil and vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. 

In a very large pot (9+ quarts) add the chicken, bay leaves, garlic, leeks, 4 stalks of the celery and carrots, season with salt and pepper and add the rest of the wine. Add enough water to just cover the chicken and bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook covered for one hour.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and make the stuffing. Traditionally the stuffing is placed inside the chicken and trussed. To simplify this process and allow for more delicious stuffing, I bake the stuffing in a loaf pan separately. For the stuffing: Tear the bread into pieces and place in a large bowl then drizzle the wine over the bread and toss, allow to soak in for a few minutes while you dice the onion and 2 celery stalks. Add the diced onion and celery, tarragon, ham or bacon, salt, pepper and eggs, toss to combine.  Place in a loaf pan. Dot the top of the stuffing with the cubed butter. Bake the stuffing for about 45 minutes or until golden browned. 

After the chicken has been simmering for one hour, add the potatoes and continue to cook, now partially covered, for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked. 

Make the cold sauce if using. Place in a gravy boat or bowl with a spoon or small ladle.

Remove the chicken from the pot and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve the broth as soup first. Remove the meat from the chicken and slice, place on a serving platter. Remove the vegetables from the pot and place on the serving platter next to the chicken. Untie the leeks and cut them into 12 pieces, along with the carrots. Serve the stuffing with the vegetables and meat and the cold sauce.