In preparation for the upcoming June Chef’s Dinner at Cafe Presse, I recently put together a Poule au Pot trial run using a chicken from Hungry Hollow Farms.
Here are some photos of the process:
Here is the chicken as received from Hungry Hollow Farms and delivered by owner/farmer Grant Jones. GMO free, pasture raised and left free to hunt lots of bugs and worms, these birds develop a different body shape than intensively farmed chickens: the breast is smaller, the legs larger and firmer and overall there is less fat. The smell and flavor of the flesh is much earthier, slightly gamey, just plain more chicken-y. They remind me quite a lot of poulet fermier that we buy at the weekly farmer’s market in Orthez.
The traditional stuffing for a Poule au Pot is a mixture of ground pork and bread. For my version, I added ground bacon, spinach and thyme.
The stuff bird, trussed and ready for the pot.
The stuffed chicken goes into a pot of chicken broth to poach gently for about 90 minutes.
Cooking finished, the chicken is ready to eat and the rich broth that remains is ready to be used for a soup course.
If you want to see the final dish, with the chicken and its stuffing carved and presented, you’ll have to book you place for the Quarterly Chef’s Dinner!
Reservations at 206.709.7674