Author Notes
This recipe is as good as the ingredient list its short. So far, I had been convinced that a wonderful roast chicken involved a whole lot of butter, but this recipe has revealed to me that there´s more than one way to chicken heaven. The poultry part of it is inspired by a recipe I read at manger.com. I also love that you can use the poaching liquid as a base for the side dish, a simple, but delicious potato mash. I hope some of you will like it, too... —Sabine
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Ingredients
- For the coq au lait:
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1
chicken of the best available quality, about 1,2 kg
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1/2-2 liters
mixture of milk and water 1:1 (to cover 2/3 of the bird)
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1 tablespoon
olive oil
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sea salt or fleur de sel and freshly ground pepper to taste
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1 handful
herbs (sage, thyme, parsley) - optional
- For the potato mash:
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6-7
medium sized potatoes (floury variety)
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milk-water-mixture from the poultry to cover the potatoes
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50-75 grams
butter (1/2 stick)
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salt and pepper, ground nutmeg to taste
Directions
- For the coq au lait:
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Preheat the oven to 150°C/300 °F.
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Rinse chicken under cold water and pat dry. Salt and pepper from inside & out.
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Place chicken in a 1:1 mix of milk & water (depending on the size of your roasting pan, you´ll need more or less to cover about 2/3 of the bird), add a little olive oil and bring to a boil on the stove.
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Poach chicken on the stove for 10-15 minutes. If you like, add the herbs.
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Removing all but 1-2 ladles all of the fluid, place chicken in the preheated oven for 1 hour, lid opened, pour some of the milk/water mixture on top every 15 min.
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Increase the oven heat to 180°C/360°F for about 20 minutes, pour on some fluid more often until the skin is golden and crisp. Maybe you´ll ad the oven grill during the last 5 minutes or so.
- For the potato mash:
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Peel potatoes and cut into chunks.
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Cover with the leftover milk-water-mixture - if you don´t have enough left, add some more milk.
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Cook at medium to high heat until tender, and mash potatoes with a fork or potato masher.
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Season to taste with salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg.
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Stir in the butter.
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