Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Poulet Saute aux Olives



I haven't posted any recipes for quite a while...not that I haven't been cooking or thinking about food....
but I have been obsessed with recreating a very simple recipe that I really love. A Poulet Saute Aux Olives and not just any version, but the version of a certain Madame Parret who lives in Neac, France.
I think I have nailed it.
I took a nice red label chicken and cut it up and sauted the pieces in a little butter and olive oil until they were just golden. I took some of the fat out of the dish...I sauted the pieces in a big iron baking casserole that had a cover. 
I only used salt and pepper. Then I smashed a few garlic cloves into the hot dish and put in almost 200 grams of pitted green olives that I had rinsed to get rid of the excess salt. After a few minutes of being heated together on the stove, I covered the pot and put it into a 350 degree farenheit oven.
Meanwhile, I had cut up some potatoes,  Spuntas from my garden of course, rubbed them with olive oil and seasoned them with salt and pepper and had them roasting in the oven on the lower rack.
After approximately 25 minutes in the oven, the chicken was done, the olives were browned a bit and there was a nice crust on the bottom of the dish. The potatoes were almost done.
I took the chicken out and put it on a dish. Then I put the pot on the stove, and deglazed the bottom, with the olives still in the pot with a glass of white wine. I put a large teaspoon of flour in the sauce and scraped all of the brown off the bottom...after a minute, the sauce began to thicken.
Then I was able to serve the potatoes, all roasted brown and crispy with the chicken and olives and the sauce with some olives on the side....
It will never be as good as Madame Parrets, but I came just "this" close and I know how to make it better the next time...of course the next attempt will be with a duck..................
Bon appetit, bien sur!

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