Greatest recipes ever Elisabeth Luard chooses ’s casserole-roasted chicken ‘Julia Child’s poulet poêle a l’estragon says as much about the Gallic way of life as it does the art of haute cuisine’ Elisabeth Luard Casserole-roasted chicken (poulet poêle a l’estragon)

Extract from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking (with Louisette Bertholle and ) Published by Penguin Books 2009 (first published in 1963)

Serves 4 people Estimated roasting time: 1 hour and 10­–20 minutes for a 3lb bird Nothing beats the aroma of Julia Child’s (left) roasted chicken Preheat oven to 160˚C/325˚F/ Gas Mark 2 the browning fat if it has burned, roasting juices. Skim off all but and add one-and-a-half ounces a tablespoon of fat. Blend in the Ingredients of fresh butter. cornflour mixture, simmer for A 3lb roasting chicken Cook the carrots and onions a minute, then raise heat and ¾tsp salt in the casserole for 5 minutes boil rapidly until sauce is lightly Pinch of pepper without browning. Add a quar- thickened. Taste for seasoning, 3½oz butter ter of a teaspoon of salt and the adding more tarragon if you 6 or 8 sprigs of fresh tarragon remaining tarragon. feel it necessary. Strain into or ½tsp of dried tarragon Salt the chicken, using a quarter a warmed sauceboat. Stir in ½tbsp oil, more if needed of a teaspoon of salt. Set it breast the herbs and butter. 1 medium sliced onion Season the cavity of the chicken up over the vegetables and baste To serve, pour a spoonful of 1 small sliced carrot with a quarter of a teaspoon it with the butter in the casserole. sauce over the chicken, and dec- A fireproof casserole large of salt, the pepper and half an Lay a piece of aluminium foil orate the breast and legs with enough to hold the chicken ounce of butter. Insert 3 or 4 over the chicken, cover the cas- tarragon leaves. The dish may on its back and on its side, sprigs of tarragon, or sprinkle in serole, and reheat it on top of be garnished with sprigs of with a tight-fitting cover a quarter of a teaspoon of dried the stove until you hear the fresh parsley or—if you are A bulb baster tarragon. Truss the chicken. Dry chicken sizzling. Then place the serving them—sautéed potatoes Aluminium foil it thoroughly and rub the skin casserole on a rack in the middle and grilled tomatoes. with half an ounce of butter. of the preheated oven. For the brown tarragon sauce Place the casserole over a mod- Roast for 1 hour and 10–20 ¾pt brown stock or beef erately high heat with one ounce minutes, regulating heat so that Elisabeth Luard is the author bouillon and tinned chicken of butter and the oil. When the the chicken is always making quiet of Classic French Cooking broth combined to make ¾pt butter foam has begun to sub- cooking noises. Baste once or ½oz cornflour blended with side, lay in the chicken, breast twice with the butter and juices 1tbsp Madeira or port down. Brown for 2 to 3 minutes. in the casserole. The chicken is And to drink... 2tbsp fresh chopped tarragon Turn the chicken on another side, done when its drumsticks move Try the 2009 Domaine des or parsley being sure not to break its skin. in their sockets, and when the Trois Pierres, Costières de ½oz softened butter Continue browning and turning last drops of juice drained from Nîmes, Rhône, France the chicken until it is golden its vent run clear yellow. Remove (£6.69 or £4.99 until To serve almost all over, particularly the chicken to a serving dish September 27 at Waitrose). 10–12 fresh tarragon leaves on the breast and legs. This will and discard trussing strings. It’s unoaked and packed full blanched for 30 seconds take 10-15 minutes. Add more To make the sauce, add the of fresh berry flavours and in boiling water, rinsed oil if necessary to keep the bot- stock or bouillon and broth to red-liquorice spice. in cold water and dried tom of the casserole filmed. the casserole and simmer for 2 Chosen by Amelia Pinsent

Duffas/Photocuisine; Arnold Images Newman/Getty on absorbent paper Remove the chicken. Pour out minutes, scraping up coagulated

136 Country Life, September 22, 2010 www.countrylife.co.uk