Recipe for Chez Maitre Paul chicken
 

In organizing my recipe box recently I came across a recipe I'd clipped from a 2001 issue of a favorite magazine which described it as "inspired by a dish that a group of our food editors enjoyed at Chez Maitre Paul, a Paris bistro." I made it for company last night and it turned out terrific. I didn't follow the recipe exactly so this is an adaptation on an adaptation but without jura wine and whatever unique cheese they use, I'd guess this is close enough to the real thing to at least give the fans on this website a taste to tide them over until their next "hit" on their next trip to the City of Light.

Chicken in the style of Chez Maitre Paul

6 chicken thighs and 6 drumsticks (Dark meat has more flavor and is less likely to dry out. If you must use white, use wings rather than breasts which are just too big and take too long in this dish)
2 tbsp butter
1 bouquet garni fashioned of 6 parsley sprigs, 3 thyme sprigs and 1 bay leaf tied in a cheese cloth bag
1 package of peeled fresh (not frozen) baby carrots
1 pkg of frozen small whole onions, thawed and patted dry
? C dry white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
? C chicken broth
1# small Yukon gold boiling potatoes cut in half but not peeled
2/3 C crème fraiche
1 pkg frozen baby peas--thawed
1 C grated gruyere cheese

Pat chicken dry, salt and pepper it. Using your widest, deep sauté/casserole/dutch oven, (I used an 16 inch diameter Calphalon roaster) heat butter and brown chicken (in batches if necessary) approx. 15 minutes. Be sure to get it nicely browned for the best look. Transfer browned chicken to a bowl and cover.
Add bouquet garni, carrots, onion and wine to the pan and deglaze by boiling over high heat, stiring and scraping up bowned bits for about 3 minutes.
Add chicken broth and chicken skin side up with any juices from the bowl the chicken was resting in and simmer, covered for 20 minutes or so checking chicken for doneness?no red juices when pricked.
Add potatoes, pushing them down into the liquid, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer, covered until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender?another 20 minutes or so. Be sure chicken is completely done. No harm in a little overcooking.
Preheat broiler. Discard bouquet garni. Stir in crème fraiche and thawed peas. Recheck for seasonings and add salt or pepper to taste. Turn chicken in sauce to coat. Sprinkle cheese all over the dish and put under broiler about 5 inches from heat. Broil approximately 4 minutes until cheese is browned and sauce is bubbling. Serve immediately in the dish chicken cooked in.
Serves 4-6 depending upon appetites

This sounds very good and easy enough for me to prepare. Could you please write out the number of cups of wine and chicken broth as they appear as question marks. Thanks.

Sorry, I should have used the reread option so I would have noticed that. The wine is one-half cup and so is the chicken broth. Thanks for surfacing the problem. Enjoy.

ttt

I don't know why Howard has not chimed in. He has a delicious Chez Maitre Paul free-range children recipe. I believe it's on the kid menu, however.

Thank you!
I bought chicken and I will make this tomorrow night:)

Scarlett, what time should I be there ;)?

Yum--thanks for posting this.

But don't you understand, maitaitom, that mine is secret recipe. No one will ever learn my method....heh...heh...heh!

Still laughing

Howard, I will make this one and you make yours and we will have a taste test:)

This is starting to sound like a sequel to Sweeney Todd!

Thanks for the recipe - sounds good and easy. I've gotten a few from Fodorites - creme brulee and a chocolate cake. Keep up the good work.

Oh dear Howard, I do hope this tastes better than a Sweeney Todd recipe~

Sequel to Sweeney Todd, I like it. Who is going to write the music? Who is going to play Howard?

Nikki, I would hope that we could convince Sondheim to do it. As for casting me, I thought maybe Tom Cruise or Harrison Ford. But, with my luck, it would probably be Woody Allen!

topping.
I made this tonight on a "cold" Florida evening. It is sensationally good. Didn't want to splurge $4.99 for the creme fraiche so substituted sour cream -- trust me, it didn't ruin it.

thanks Patrick for topping this recipe

for less-expensive home made creme fraiche, you can
combine 1 cup heavy cream with 1 cup sour cream, let stand at room temperature for one hour, then refrigerate until thickened.

the advantage of creme fraiche is that it won't curdle if simmered
Glad your easier version worked out! =:)

Good tip, I know I've written down that recipe for "homemade" creme fraiche before but can never find it. Since it is added and then just put under the broiler with the cheese on top it didn't curdle at all, though.

And to be honest, I also substituted about a teaspoon of herbs of provence for the bouquet garni (hey, I've got to use up that huge bag I bought at the St. Tropez market this summer).

JmVikmanis, thanks for posting this, it looks pretty damn good.

Can you clarify a couple of things for a non-American reader? (I suspect that a French cook might also be interested in the answers.)

"1 package of peeled fresh (not frozen) baby carrots"

Is it not possible to buy carrots that you peel for yourself? (And how big is a "package"?)

"1 pkg of frozen small whole onions, thawed and patted dry"

Do you have to buy frozen onions? Are there no fresh fruit-and-veg markets, or at the least supermarkets, that sell fresh onions in your area?

Neil, your very reasonable questions caused me to do some research to answer you and now I've learned something new. Baby carrots are actually processed (cut) from regular sized carrots/carrot roots. Since they don't grow that way, they're only sold in bags. I found an article that explained it's actually a way for growers to sell some less than attractive looking carrots and/or roots! :-o The good news is evidently offering them precut and peeled also increased the consumption of carrots in the US (which is a good thing). Just another convenience. I think they're used in this recipe for the look. Baby carrots are quite popular for snacks, crudites etc. Here's the link to the article if you're interested. Unfortunately I can't tell you how much is in a bag but I'm sure someone else can.

http://www.deere.com/en_US/ag/pdf/fu...ov04_04709.pdf

Baby onions are also called pearl onions I think. They're usually sold in bags of 1 pound. I didn't research those, but I think it's also a convenience thing. The frozen ones are already peeled. Why didn't you ask about the frozen peas?