Bresse chicken with red wine vinegar

A little jewel of French family cuisine. Again the success of this recipe depends very much on the quality of the ingredients. Try to choose free-range or organic chicken and also a good red wine vinegar, the best I’ve found was red wine cabernet sauvignon vinegar from Waitrose. The cooking time will depend entirely on the sourcing of the chicken, factory produced will take 15–20 minutes, free-range/organic 30–40 minutes. Planning ahead: The dish can be prepared 1 day in advance and then reheated in the oven at 150°C.

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1:25 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

 

For the chicken fricassee

40 ml goose or duck fat

1 x 2 kg whole chicken, cut into 12 pieces

4 pinches sea salt

2 pinches freshly ground black pepper

30 g unsalted butter

1 large onion, cut into 8 pieces through root

12 garlic cloves, peeled

160 g ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

4 tarragon sprigs

150 ml red wine vinegar, heated, reduced by half

150 ml dry white wine, heated, reduced by one-third

250 ml water or white chicken stock

 

For the caramelised garlic

60 ml extra virgin olive oil

180 g garlic cloves, blanched for 2 minutes, refreshed, peeled

50 ml warm water

60 ml eight-year-old balsamic vinegar

4 pinches salt 

2 pinches crushed black pepper

 

For the green beans

100 ml water

30 g unsalted butter

2 pinches sea salt

1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

250 g green beans, trimmed

 

chopped parsley, to serve

Instructions

Preheat oven to 120°C. Heat the goose fat in a large ovenproof sauté pan over a medium heat. Cook the chicken pieces for 5 minutes each side, until golden brown. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Transfer the breast pieces to a plate and set aside.

Heat the butter in a separate saucepan over a medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic for 7 minutes, until lightly golden. Add the tomato and cook for 3 minutes, until broken down. Add the tarragon, vinegar, white wine and water or stock and bring to a simmer.

Pour mixture into sauté pan with chicken and season to taste. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 50 minutes. Add the chicken breast and cook for a further 10 minutes.

To make the caramelised garlic, heat the oil in a 15cm sauté pan over a medium heat. Cook the garlic, turning frequently, for 5 minutes, until golden brown all over. Add the water, vinegar, salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes, until liquid is reduced to a thick caramel. Strain off excess oil and refrigerate caramelised garlic until needed.

To make the green beans, combine the water, butter, salt and pepper in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil. Add the beans and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook for 2–3 minutes, until tender. Season to taste.

Place the chicken and beans on a large serving platter or four serving plates. Scatter over parsley and caramelised garlic. Serve with sauce.

Chef’s notes

1 x 2.2kg chicken = 1.3kg prepped meat

1 portion = 1 drumstick or thigh + 1 breast piece + 1 wing piece = 300g raw weight

1 x 1.6kg chicken = 800g prepped meat

1 portion = 1 drumstick or thigh + 1 breast piece + 1 wing piece = 200g raw weight

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.