French Gardener's Chicken (Poulet Jardinière)
This rustic and colourful French chicken dish captures the spirit of a French summer garden's harvest.
The classic French home dish celebrates the harvest of a summer’s garden, or at least what your gardener has available! Naturally, the contents depend entirely on what you have and what’s in season. You’ll often find a medley of mushrooms, baby potatoes and root vegetables along with a fresh dance of green vegetables added at the end, anywhere from peas and beans to courgettes and broccoli. You can really make this recipe your own, and the best part is it’s all ready within an hour. This recipe uses chicken legs or thighs, which are initially browned and then braised in a mixture of white wine and water. Using bone-in chicken here means you don’t need to add any stock; the chicken bones themselves have the magical Midas touch and will transform the water into a golden chicken stock by the end. Serve this on a large platter and allow people to serve themselves what bits and pieces they like, along with the irresistible herbal juices! Let’s go!
INGREDIENTS (serves 2-4x)
2-3x bone-in, skin-on chicken legs (or 6-8x thighs)
1-2 slices of bacon or 50g of diced bacon lardons
1x onion, diced
3x cloves garlic, sliced
2x sticks of celery, diced
1x carrot, diced
1 tablespoon plain flour
1x 200ml glass dry white wine
2x stalks of fresh thyme (or 1/4 tsp dried)
2x bay leaves
400ml water
2 tsps salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper, or to taste
1/2 tsp sugar, or to taste
1x courgette, seeds removed and large-diced - or broccoli, broken into florets
handful of mushrooms
handful of frozen peas or fresh green beans, chopped
handful of fresh parsley and/or tarragon, finely chopped
WALKTHROUGH
First, let’s brown the bacon. Place a large, heavy-based pot onto a medium-high heat. Add the 50g diced bacon and allow to to fry to a crisp, releasing some of its fat. Remove the crispy bacon from the pan and set it aside.
Now we’ll brown the chicken in the same pan. Blot the chicken legs/thighs dry with a paper towel, and place them skin-side down in the pan on high heat. You may need to do this in batched to prevent overcrowding. Leave them still to crisp for at least 2 minutes before turning over. You should have a golden brown crisp on the skin. Allow them to cook for a further 2 minutes on the other side, then remove them from the pan and set aside.
Turn off the heat and allow the pan to cool. Add the diced onion, celery, carrots and garlic and allow them to fry on a gentle heat for 1-2 minutes until slightly translucent. Be careful they don’t burn.
Add the 1 tablespoon of flour and stir it into the vegetables. Allow the mixture to fry for 1 minute to cook away the raw taste of the flour.
Now we’ll add some liquid. Add the 250ml of white wine followed by the 2x bay leaves, sprig of thyme and 1/2 tsp of black pepper. Stir the mixture well and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes until reduced and thickened.
Add the baby potatoes along with 400ml of water and 2 tsps of salt and 1/2 tsp of sugar. Stir to combine with the ingredients in the pot. Place the crispy bacon and browned chicken into the pot, sitting them on the base of vegetables so they are half submerged, with the skin side facing up. Allow the pan to come to a boil then partially cover it with a lid. Cook the chicken, partially covered, for 15 minutes on medium heat, then remove the lid and cook the chicken uncovered for a further 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Add the mushrooms, courgettes, frozen peas/fresh green beans to the pot. Bring the pot to a boil, then cover and simmer the vegetables for 5 minutes until they have softened but retain some bite.
Add the cooked chicken back to the pan and bring it back up to a heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your taste, making adjustments with salt, sugar or lemon juice.
To serve, transfer the contents of the pot to a serving platter. Add chopped parsley and/or tarragon just before serving and invite people to serve themselves. Enjoy!
