This classic dish of French grandmothers is very popular in the Auvergne region, in the central part of France, where the chef Janis Zvirbulis lived for some time. This recipe can also be used to cook chicken, quail and chicken – only the cooking time of the poultry will change.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

  • 2 chickens, about 350 g
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic (not Chinese!)
  • 1 bunch thyme
  • 1 medium onion
  • dry white wine
  • butter
  • vegetable oil​

 

Garnish and condiments:

  • 20 small potatoes
  • 500 g boletus or mushrooms
  • 200 g cold smoked pork belly
  • 20 pcs. shallots
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 small bunch of parsley
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 150 ml chicken broth

​

Cooking chicken

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

2. Salt and pepper the chicken.

3. Ideally use a cast iron extinguishing boiler (cocotte) – preheat the boiler over medium heat.

4. Heat the butter and sunflower oil, bake the chicken along with the crushed garlic, thyme and onion, chopped into six parts.

5. Place the chicken in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

 

6. Remove the chicken from the cooking pot, add white wine and chicken stock over medium heat, boil, pour through a sieve and thicken the sauce with a little butter.

Garnish

1. Peel the shallots and simmer in a lidded pot in a little water (so that the bulbs are almost completely covered with water). Add butter and sugar, the water evaporates and the onions begin to caramelize.

When the bulbs will become a beautiful golden color, add salt – and you’re done!

2. Peel the potatoes (choose roughly the same small potatoes). Fry the potatoes in a cast iron pot for about 20 minutes in a little fat, add garlic and thyme.

3. Sear the pork, add the mushrooms and, once the mushrooms are done, combine it with the potatoes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and stir to make the flavors “friends,” then add the onions.

Place the sliced chicken and side dish on a plate, top with the gravy, and BON APPÉTIT!

Which wine goes well with this dish?

2010 Emidio Pepe Pecorino Colli Aprutini IGT, Abruzzo, Italy

2010 Pepe Pecorino has a bright and intense aroma dominated by orange tart, overripe pineapples and light pine resin nuances.

The wine has a medium-bodied taste, a crunchy complex of notes of dried apricots, toasted almonds and rye bread drizzled with acacia honey. The complex taste and nuances of the wine go well with the guinea fowl garnish, which is dominated by cold smoked pork belly. In turn, the intense taste of the guinea fowl will soothe the raging acidity levels of the Pecorino. Give this wine a couple more years, and then it will manifest itself in full force.