A Hungry Bear

I haven’t seen the Julia Child movie, but I’ve been hit with the fever all the same - looking for dinner ideas in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This is probably one of the easiest and most iconic of the JC recipes - chicken sauteed in herbs de provence, with a simple bearnaise sauce over top. It turned out great even though I bastardized the recipe by using boneless skinless chicken breast instead of whole chicken pieces. With some simple oven-roasted potatoes and baby tomatoes on the side, it was a perfect mostly-french-inspired meal.

Adapted from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, “Poulet Saute aux Herbes de Provence.”

Ingredients: 1/2 stick butter, 1.5 pounds chicken, 1 teaspoon each thyme & basil, 1/4 tsp ground fennel seeds, 3 garlic cloves (unpeeled), 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon white wine, 2 egg yolks, 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice; plus one pound small round potatoes and 1 pint baby heirloom tomatoes.

Melt butter in large dutch oven or heavy skillet (use one that has a lid), over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken pieces for 5 minutes, then flip when they are starting to brown.

While the chicken is cooking, mash the fennel seeds in a mortar and pestle, and mince the herbs. When you flip the chicken, sprinkle with herbs and fennel seed, and season with salt and pepper. Add the whole garlic cloves to the pot, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for another 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Every few minutes baste the chicken with the butter sauce in the bottom of the pan.

While the chicken is finishing, you can make the roast potatoes and tomatoes. The potatoes will take longer, so start them first. Cut the baby potatoes in half, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast on a rimmed baking sheet in a 450 degree oven. After 10 minutes, stir them around, then roast for 10 more minutes.

Toss the tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper, and add to the cookie sheet with the potatoes (after the potatoes have roasted for 20 minutes - they’ll be close to done, and can finish alongside the tomatoes). Roast for 5 minutes more.

When the chicken is done, remove it and place on a plate. Smash the garlic cloves with the back of a large spoon, so the skin peels away. Remove the skins from the pan. Add 1/2 cup of white wine and increase the heat to medium. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the sauce is reduced by half.

In a separate small saucepan, whisk 2 egg yolks until they are thick and creamy. Whisk in one tablespoon each of white wine and lemon juice. Then, you can start drizzling in the butter-wine sauce, transferring a half-teaspoon at a time from the saucepan into the egg yolks. Whisk continuously so the egg yolks stay thick and don’t separate or turn clumpy.

Continue to add small amount of the warm butter to the egg yolk mixture until it thickens (the warm butter will slowly begin to cook the eggs just enough to cause it to thicken). To serve, place the cooked chicken pieces, roasted tomatoes and potatoes on a plate, then spoon the bearnaise sauce over top.