Poulet Basquaise – chicken with peppers, ham, tomatoes and onions

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basque, Chicken, chicken stew, classic french, espelette, one-dish meal, peppers, piment d'espelette, tomatoes

The perfect one-dish meal! Poulet Basquaise is a standard plat du jour in many bistros across France and there must be at least a hundred interpretations of this classic dish. It originates in the Basque country and is traditionally made with a little Bayonne ham. The generic term Bayonne applies to any salt-cured ham that is air-dried for five months. You may use any unsmoked ham such as prosciutto or Serrano if you cannot find Bayonne. The difference between poulet basquaise and many other chicken and tomato stews is that here the onions and tomatoes are cooked separately from the chicken and peppers and the cooked chicken is served on a bed of the tomato and onion sauce. Additionally the dish tastes especially good due to the addition of Espelette pepper. It is a mildish pepper with lots of flavour and not much heat. If for some reason you cannot find ground piment d’Espelette, substitute 4 small, mildly hot peppers such as serrano peppers or use 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes. As with all spicy recipes, do feel free to adjust the amount of hot peppers to your taste! This dish is typically served with plain, white, boiled rice. It is a great do-ahead dish and tastes even better the next day.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 chicken legs (1 1/2 to 2 kg / 3 to 4 lbs)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Flour for dusting
3 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons (5 total) rendered duck fat or vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
250g / 8oz Bayonne ham or prosciutto, diced
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1kg / 2lb red and green bell peppers, cored, seeded and thickly sliced
1kg / 2 lb tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (or 1 large can 750g / 28oz plum tomatoes, drained)
Pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground piment d’Espelette
Parsley, fresh and coarsely chopped for garnish

Preparation:

Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper and lightly dust with flour
In a large, deep and heavy skillet or dutch oven, heat the oil over moderately high heat
Add the chicken and cook on one side until a deep golden brown, about 5 minutes, then turn the pieces over and brown the other side, about 5 minutes more
Work in batches if to avoid overcrowding the pan
Return all the chicken to the pan
Add the garlic, bell peppers, chillis and ham
Cook, covered, over medium low heat until the chicken is cooked and the peppers are soft, about 45 minutes
Stir occasionally and adjust heat to avoid scorching
Meanwhile in another large skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium high heat
Add the onions, reduce heat and cook until very soft, about 5 minutes
Add the tomatoes, sugar and piment d’Espelette
Cook for 30 minutes
Season to taste
(The dish can be made ahead up to this point – reheat both mixtures separately before serving)
To serve, spoon the tomato and onion mixture into a deep platter, cover with the chicken, garnish with parsley and serve immediately, with white rice
Enjoy!

Endive, Roquefort and walnut salad

Tags

classic french, endives, roquefort, salad, walnut oil, walnuts

I think that this must be one of my favourite winter salads, it’s so delicate, and has such a wonderful, just lightly bitter flavor, I just can’t resist.The crunchy endive with fresh walnuts, creamy yet strong tasting Roquefort all dressed in a fragrant walnut oil – yum! This is a classic bistro salad if ever there was one. Usually served as a starter or even a main course but it is not a side salad. Make sure you have a soft and creamy Roquefort and not a dry and crumbly one. Due to the cheese being salty, I do not add salt to this salad. I also was lucky enough to use walnuts from our trees that we harvested in October (we still have heaps).  Feel free to toast them if you wish but I used them fresh.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
Belgian endives, about 6
1 cup / 120g organic walnut halves
180g / 6oz Roquefort, crumbled
4 tablespoons / 60ml walnut oil

Preparation:

Wash and dry the endives, remove 2cm / 1″ from the stem end of each endive, discard the core, and cut the rest across into 2cm /1″ chunks (do not use the very bottom hard bits)
Place the leaves in a large salad bowl
Add the walnuts and the crumbled Roquefort
Combine the lemon juice with the oil and pepper and whisk to blend
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss
Serve immediately
Bon Appétit!

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Sauté of Veal with Noilly Prat

Tags

classic french, nouilly prat, Veal, vermouth

Gently simmered and very fragrant recipe. Noilly Prat is a brand of vermouth from France. “White” Noilly Prat is the archetype of dry, straw-coloured French vermouth. Noilly Prat now makes Red and Ambre vermouths as well, introduced in the 1960s and 1980s, but they are less widely known. Noilly Prat Dry is 18% alcohol by volume. The Noilly Prat company is based in Marseillan, in the Hérault département of southern France. Joseph Noilly, a herbalist, developed the first formula in 1813.

The manufacturing process used today is virtually unchanged since the 1850s. Noilly Prat is made exclusively from white grape varieties grown in the Marseillan area, principally Picpoul de Pinet and Clairette. These produce light, fruity wines which are matured in massive Canadian oak casks inside the original storerooms. The wine stays in these casks for 8 months, maturing and absorbing the flavour of the wood, before being transferred to smaller oak barrels which are taken outside and left for a year. Here they are exposed to the sun, wind, and low winter temperatures, while the wine is slowly changing. The result is a wine that is dry, full-bodied and amber coloured, similar to Madeira or Sherry. During the year outside, 6 to 8% of the volume is lost to evaporation, the “angels’ share”.

Noilly-Prat production area in Marseillan

Brought back inside and left to rest for a few months, the wines are then blended together into oak casks. A small quantity of Mistelle (grape juice and alcohol) is added to the wines in order to soften them, along with a dash of fruit essence to accentuate their flavour.
In the oak casks, a process of maceration, supposedly unique to Noilly Prat, takes place over a period of three weeks. A blend of some twenty herbs and spices is added by hand every day. The exact mix of herbs and spices that goes into Noilly Prat is a closely guarded secret, but includes camomile, bitter orange peel, nutmeg, centaury (Yellow Gentian), coriander, and cloves. After a further six weeks, the finished product is ready for bottling and is shipped in tankers to Beaucaire, Gard, where it is bottled by Martini & Rossi.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

800 g / 2 lbs veal cut into cubes
30 g / 2 tablespoons butter
4 shallots, finely diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
80 ml / 1/3 cup Nouilly Prat
180 ml / 3/4 cup chicken stock
Pinch of sugar
1 bay leaf
4 sage leaves, fresh
200 ml / 3/4 cup heavy cream
Parsley, fresh, roughly chopped for garnish

Preparation:

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat
Add the veal and brown on all sides
Add the shallots, salt and pepper and cook a few more minutes
Pour in half the Nouilly Prat
Add the chicken stock and the bay leaf and lower heat to a slow simmer
Allow to simmer, covered, for 1 hour
Add the rest of the Nouilly Prat
Dice the sage leaves and add to the pan and leave to cook, uncovered, another 15 minutes for the sauce to thicken
Remove from the stove
Remove the bay leaf and check the seasoning
Add the cream and stir well
Sprinkle with parsley
Serve with homemade pappardelle pasta
Bon Appétit!

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