Poulet au pot
“Pour bien cuisiner il faut de bons ingrédients, un palais, du coeur et des amis To cook well you need good ingredients, palace, a heart, and some friends. ”
Poulet au pot (spoken pulopot, almost in one word) is one of the classic classics of French cuisine, and every chef will be able to prepare it even in the middle of the night. Yet, no matter how classic it is, there are a few versions of what to add in the process. Some do like to add juniper as spices, while some vote for cloves (I like both). Some fancy boiling the chicken first, only then adding vegetables; some, like me, and others, like adding everything at once. Some chop their vegetables finely while others add in large pieces. On top of that, some suggest clarifying the stock afterward; some do not. It is also a different story about the vegetables that you add at the end. There is always a carrot and almost always turnip, but the rest is up to the granny, mother, Bistrot, or Michelin-starred chef, as some like to make it more hearty by adding potatoes. Some skip those and add little neat leeks.
So, yes, as with every traditional recipe in the world, the versions are almost endless yet so consistently similar that when you make a dish, everyone has their unanimous truth that can easily become quite bendy at the end.
1 chicken 1, 5 kg
3-4 liters of water (depending on kettle size)
100 g carrot, halved
1 celery stick, halved
1 onion, peeled
4 peeled garlic cloves
1 bouquet garni
4 juniper berries
4 cloves
12 peppercorns (I love to use smoked ones from Compagnie Francaise Des Poivres et Des Epices)
1 tsp sea salt (or maybe more, up to you)
after:
6 small carrots
4 small turnips, cut in half or four pieces
a few small leeks, if you can get
small potatoes, if you wish (I did not put them in this recipe)
Place chicken in a kettle ( I like to use cast iron) and pour over water so that it covers the chicken. Add carrot halves, celery sticks, onion, and garlic. Boil on medium-high heat until it starts to foam. Skim off all of the foam. When none are showing up anymore, add bouquet garni and spices ( I like to put them in a small tea bag). Add salt. See, just in case, more foam does not form. If it does, skim off. If not, let it simmer with a lid almost on (leave a small space) for 45 minutes if the chicken is young or 1 h 15 minutes if it is older.
Lift out all of the vegetables, leaving spices and bouquet Garni. Add carrots, turnips, leek, and potato if adding. Boil for 15 - 20 more minutes until the vegetables are ready (still crips a bit, though).
Lift out the chicken and peel off the skin from the breasts. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve on a plate with vegetables and stock separately, if you wish. You can also serve it in a terrine, pouring over some stock so that it is there but does not feel like a soup.