Poule au pot is a traditional French dish where a whole chicken is stuffed with breadcrumbs and cooked in a pot with vegetables and broth. It was declared by Henry IV that every peasant could have it every Sunday. The dish is served with cooked vegetables and garnished with mustard and pickles.
Poule au pot is a traditional French recipe from the country that literally translates into English to “chicken in a pot.” It is the dish that Frenchman Henry IV was referring to when he declared that every working peasant could have a chicken every Sunday under his guidance. To prepare poule au pot, a whole chicken is stuffed with a bread mixture and cooked in a large pot with seasoned broth and an assortment of vegetables.
The first step in preparing this one pot recipe is to make the breadcrumb filling. The breadcrumbs are placed in a bowl with milk and beaten eggs and some seasonings including salt and pepper. Once the stuffing is well mixed, it is placed into the cavity of a washed and dried whole raw chicken. A piece of string is used to tie the thighs together on the chicken so the poule au pot stuffing doesn’t fall out during cooking. At this stage, the chicken can be placed in the refrigerator for a few hours before cooking.
When cooked, the stuffed chicken is added to a large pot along with stock and assorted fresh chopped vegetables. While different combinations of vegetables can be used to make this poached chicken dish, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes and cabbage are common. Traditionally, the vegetables used were these types of hardy varieties, but fairly inexpensive, since the dish needed to be affordable enough for farmers to prepare and eat.
A bunch of garni, which is a bundle of different herbs like parsley, bay leaf, and thyme tied together with string, is added to the pot of chicken and broth. This mixture should be brought to a gentle boil and simmered for at least an hour before adding the vegetables. Poule au pot, complete with assorted chopped or chopped vegetables, should be simmered until each vegetable is tender.
To serve the warm and satisfying family meal, the chicken is removed from the pot first. It is usually placed in the center of a large plate. The cooked vegetables can then be scooped out of the pot using a slotted spoon. The vegetables should surround the chicken. Grainy mustard and small pickles can be placed on top of the chicken to finish off the finishing touches on the poule au pot.
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